A provocative look at what has worked--and what hasn't--in East Asian economics. It explores how policies ridiculed by economists created titans in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and are now behind the rise of China, while the best advice the West could offer sold its allies in south-east Asia down the economic river.
Until the catastrophic economic crisis of the late 1990s, East Asia was perceived as a monolithic success story. But heady economic growth rates masked the most divided continent in the world - one half the most extraordinary developmental success story ever seen, the other half a paper tiger. Joe Studwell explores how policies ridiculed by economists created titans in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and are now behind the rise of China, while the best advice the West could offer sold its allies in South-East Asia down the economic river. The first book to offer an Asia-wide deconstruction of success and failure in economic development, Studwell's latest work is provocative and iconoclastic - and sobering reading for most of the world's developing countries. How Asia Works is a must-read book that packs powerful insights about the world's most misunderstood continent.
40 or 50 families control the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Their interests range from banking to property, from shipping to sugar, from vice to gambling. This book lifts the lid on a world of staggering secrecy and shows that the little most people know is almost entirely wrong.
A provocative, in-depth look at China - potentially the world's largest market - and the hopes and disappointments of politicians and companies in their search for new riches.
The book uncovers the hidden dynamics of a significant global market, exposing the identities and backgrounds of its influential leaders. Through rigorous investigation, it reveals the strategies and tactics these individuals use to ascend and maintain their power, shedding light on the secrecy and hypocrisy that pervade this tumultuous industry.