The Global Financial Crisis And Asia

This book demonstrates how Asian countries tried to minimize the impact of the global financial crisis, identifies structural weaknesses in their economies, and discusses policy options for strengthening Asian economies to avoid future crises and promote sustainable growth in the long-term.

This is a unique insider account of the new world of unfettered finance. The author, an Asian regulator, examines how old mindsets, market fundamentalism, loose monetary policy, carry trade, lax supervision, greed, cronyism, and financial engineering caused both the Asian crisis of the late 1990s and the global crisis of 2008–9. This book shows how the Japanese zero interest rate policy to fight deflation helped create the carry trade that generated bubbles in Asia whose effects brought Asian economies down. The study's main purpose is to demonstrate that global finance is so interlinked and interactive that our current tools and institutional structure to deal with critical episodes are completely outdated. The book explains how current financial policies and regulation failed to deal with a global bubble and makes recommendations on what must change.

Two Crises, Different Outcomes examines East Asian policy reactions to the two major crises of the last fifteen years: the global financial crisis of 2008–9 and the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98. The calamity of the late 1990s saw a massive meltdown concentrated in East Asia. In stark contrast, East Asia avoided the worst effects of the Lehman Brothers collapse, incurring relatively little damage when compared to the financial devastation unleashed on North America and Europe. Much had changed across the intervening decade, not least that China rather than Japan had become the locomotive of regional growth, and that the East Asian economies had taken numerous steps to buffer their financial structures and regulatory regimes. This time Asia avoided disaster; it bounced back quickly after the initial hit and has been growing in a resilient fashion ever since. The authors of this book explain how the earlier financial crisis affected Asian economies, why government reactions differed so widely during that crisis, and how Asian economies weathered the Great Recession. Drawing on a mixture of single-country expertise and comparative analysis, they conclude by assessing the long-term prospects that Asian countries will continue their recent success.

This book incorporates a selection of eight revised papers presented at the Conference on "Managing Economic Crisis in Southeast Asia", organized jointly by the Saw Centre for Financial Studies, NUS Business School and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, in January 2010. The chapters deal with the management of the 2008-09 economic crisis in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the region as a whole. They represent an analysis of the impact of the economic crisis and the stimulus packages that were swiftly put in place by the governments to mitigate the economic recession and to pave the way for a quick recovery. The success of the monetary and fiscal policy measures in engendering a strong economic recovery in these countries is also discussed in considerable depth. The book, with contributions from experts on the topics covered, will be extremely valuable to businessmen, analysts, academics, students, policy-makers and the general public interested in seeking a greater understanding of the sub-prime crisis that led to the global economic recession.

This book takes account of the global financial crisis from Asian perspectives, considering Asian responses to the crisis via two key arenas – regionalism in Asia and the G20. The expert contributors – both Asian and Western – illustrate that as G20 members, many Asian countries are now able to showcase their increasing powers and influence on global issues. Within this context, and via multidisciplinary economic and political science perspectives, the book deals with various issues such as World System analysis, the debate between the Washington Consensus and the Beijing Consensus, roles within the G20, and the contribution of 'middle' powers such as Korea and Australia. The application of European experiences to Asia is also considered, as are perspectives from the US. The book concludes that the key to resolving the current global economic crisis lies in how quickly a new global governance and monitoring system can be constructed, and that there are multiple roles for Asian countries to play in its development. Written with a uniquely multidisciplinary approach, this book will prove a fascinating read for a wide-ranging audience encompassing academics, students, researchers and policymakers in a number of fields including Asian studies, economics, public policy and regional studies.

'Filled with fresh observations from the global financial crisis, this book provides a blueprint for making Asia's financial systems safe. With contributions from experts in several countries, it is both comprehensive and rigorous. It will be invaluable to policy makers and students of finance everywhere, but its unique Asian perspective provides special insight into the systems that managed to ride out the global crisis but absent further reform might set the stage for another one. The book's analysis and recommendations deserve urgent policy attention.' Peter Petri, Brandeis University, US 'What are the lessons of the global financial crisis of 20072009 for Asia? This is a key issue for Asia today. On one hand, some observers argue that following the Asian financial crisis in 199798, most Asian developing countries built up strong mechanisms to guarantee financial stability. But the recent financial shocks across America and Europe show that even the best financial systems have key weaknesses. This book is a valuable guide for Asian financial policy-makers of the road ahead.' Peter McCawley, Australian National University In light of the experience of the global financial crisis, this book develops concrete recommendations for financial sector reform and regulation in Asian economies aimed at preventing the recurrence of systemic financial crises, improving the ability to manage and resolve crises, managing capital flows, and promoting the development of Asian bond markets. The focus of the book is on longer-term structural measures. It explores areas such as the scope for regional monitoring and cooperation; deepening and integration of Asian bond and money markets; liberalization/regulation of capital flows; issues related to macroprudential oversight, regulatory structure and cooperation; as well as role of state intervention in crisis resolution in the financial sector. The need for and impacts of regulations on innovative financial products and specific investor groups such as hedge funds; ways to reduce systemic risk of pro-cyclicality of regulation; and ways to improve the infrastructure and regulatory environment for local currency bond markets, are also examined in depth. The book will appeal to public and private finance experts, policy and decisions makers in governments and banks, think-tanks, and students in graduate courses related to financial and economic development.

In the wake of the global financial crisis, Asia is leading the global recovery with strong economic growth. However, this book argues that, in the coming years, the region will need to play a much more active role in shaping the future global financial system and, in turn, suggests policy strategies for doing so. Asian Financial Integration explores the lessons we can learn from Asia’s experience during the global financial crisis in terms of the future direction of the region’s economic policy and the challenges posed by the opening and deepening of its financial markets. The contributors deal with a number of crucial questions, including what Asia should learn from the crisis, especially with regards to financial innovation and regulation; whether global imbalances are a result of policy distortions or a natural outcome of global division of labour; what are the lessons and implications from the financial market reform and liberalization experiences of some of the region’s major economies; and what should Asia do to promote regional financial integration, particularly with regards to currency integration. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars interested in Asian economics and international economics, as well as by policy-makers working in the field.

This book traces the impact of the global financial crisis on East Asia, and the way that key regional states responded to the crisis. It considers the extent to which the region is decoupling from the global economy (or the West), the impact of crises on the definition of "region", and the effectiveness and functioning of regional institutions and governance mechanisms (including environmental governance). A key focus of the book is the increasing legitimacy of statist alternatives to (neo)liberal development strategies and modes of governance – or perhaps more correctly, the extent to which the legitimacy of "western" norms and practices have been delegitimized by the crisis. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics