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How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region Paperback

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How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region
How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region
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In the 1980s and 1990s many in the West came to believe in the myth of an East-Asian economic miracle, with countries seen as not just development prodigies but as a unified bloc, culturally and economically similar, and inexorably on the rise. In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell distills extensive research into the economics of nine countries-Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China-into an accessible narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished. Impressive in scope, How Asia Works is essential listening for anyone interested in a region that will shape the future of the world.
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Profile Books Ltd
  3. Dimensions
    15.4 x 2.6 x 23.4 cm
  4. ISBN-10
    1846682428
  5. ISBN-13
    978-1846682421
  6. See all details
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  1. Finally, interventions in the financial sector to focus capital on intensive, small-scale agriculture and on manufacturing development provide the third key to accelerated economic transformation.
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  2. It is that a lot of critical learning in the most successful developing countries takes place outside the formal education sector. It occurs, instead, inside firms.
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  3. In Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, governments radically restructured agriculture after the Second World War, focused their modernisation efforts on manufacturing, and made their financial systems slaves to these two objectives.
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Product description

Review

Praise forHow Asia Works:

'I found the book to be quite compelling. . . . Studwell's book does a better job than anything else I've read of articulating the key role of agriculture in development. . . . A good read for anyone who wants to understand what actually determines whether a developing economy will succeed.'-Bill Gates, 'Top 5 Books of the Year'

'Pithy, well-written and intellectually vigorous . . . Studwell's thesis is bold, his arguments persuasive, and his style pugnacious. It adds up to a highly readable and important book.'-Financial Times

'Provocative. … How Asia Works is a striking and enlightening book … A lively mix of scholarship, reporting and polemic.'-The Economist

Very readable… . A fascinating and thoroughly deep account."-Bloomberg Radio

'Gripping … Readers will find Studwell's informative and balanced report eye-opening.'-Publishers Weekly

'Consistently engaging.'-Booklist

'Studwell paints a vivid picture of business life in the region. If a copy of the Korean edition finds its way across the demilitarized zone to Pyongyang … we may find we have yet another Asian Tiger in our midst.'-Management Today

'A solid blend of the descriptive and the prescriptive, with plenty of lessons that will be of interest to Asia hands, investors and policymakers.'-Kirkus Reviews

'Perhaps my favorite economics book of the year. Quite simply, it is the best single treatment on what in Asian industrial policy worked or did not work, full of both analysis and specific detail, and covering southeast Asia in addition to the Asian tiger 'winners.' … Definitely recommended, you will learn lots from it, and it will upset people of virtually all ideologies.'-Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

'Illuminating'-Independent (UK)

'An interesting analysis of policy decisions that have and haven't worked . . . a handy guide for anyone interested in one of the world's fastest developing regions.'-The Economic Times (India)

'Studwell's latest book,How Asia Works, is also his most ambitions. . . . Declining to make broad pronouncements or dovetail with doctrine, Studwell demonstrates that the way Asia works isn't quite as simple as we ever imagined.'-Smart Planet

"A landmark work."-Asia Times (Bangkok)

'Bold and insightful. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the ingredients for economic success.'-The News International (Pakistan) " --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Joe Studwell is the founding editor of the China Economic Quarterly. A freelance journalist in Asia for over twenty years, he has also written for the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Economist, the Financial Times, the Asian Wall Street Journal, and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

British audiobook narrator and AudioFile Earphones Award winner Nigel Patterson has many credits as a stage, screen, and voice-over actor that influence his powerful characterization across a broad range of genres. A graduate of the University of Oxford, he is fluent in French and Spanish. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1846682428
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846682421
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 484 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.4 x 2.6 x 23.4 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 866 ratings

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4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
866 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

prodi12
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to learn about how important government policies affect Asian development
Reviewed in Canada on April 5, 2020
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Really enjoyed reading this book and opened my eyes on the various different governmental policy successes and failures that shaped how Asian countries are now like today. Particularly liked how the author used snippets of his trips to some of these places, it really helped visualize what he is describing. Definitely a must read if you want to learn and understand why countries such as South Korea, Japan and China developed so successfully to where they are now today, but countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand really lagged behind and stalled since the end of WW2.
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Claudio
4.0 out of 5 stars Persuasive contribution to development economics
Reviewed in Canada on March 3, 2014
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Cogently argued and well researched the book makes a strong case. The author provides a credible explanation of the striking differences between the Asian tigers and the rest of south East Asian countries with regard to their economic development. It punctures a gaping hole in the so called Washington consensus. The many references to the "stages of growth" approach indicate that the policies adopted at an early stage may not have validity once take off is achieved and may be inappropriate once a country has embarked upon a growth path even if that may prove to be a long term handicap.
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JC
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 12, 2017
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Terrific Book
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James R. Maclean
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly done
Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2014
This book is an exceptionally lucid history of development policy in the major economies of East Asia. There is particular focus on the economies of South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, but Studwell addresses other nations as well.

Understandably, development policy is an explosively controversial topic, and readers will be divided by prejudice on this matter. For decades, "the Washington Consensus" (WC) has been pushed onto less developed countries (LDCs) as an unworkable combination of "free trade," currency convertibility, and "stable exchange rates" (1). At the same time, building up a strong farming sector plays a far greater role in the Asian success stories than "liberalization" of FDI.

Readers may be astonished to see how much attention Studwell pays to farming policy in the history of Asian development, seeing as how the prominent successes for countries like Japan, South Korea, and China have been in manufacturing. But sustaining the needs of the population and allowing them to save is a paramount step for any metric of economic success. For instance, when countries are developing, a failed agricultural policy (and concomitant food imports) can suck up foreign capital required for capital projects. Als, as in the case of the Philippines, failures to implement land reform can result in a powerful landed aristocracy upon which the national leadership is completely dependent (2).

After addressing farm policy, he moves on to the challenge of industrial development. He points out that "liberal" trade policy is incontrovertibly unsuited to industrial development(3), but also that competition and export discipline are crucial ingredients of success. Hence, the success of South Korea's industrialization, with massive redundancy of industrial output (multiple car makers, for example, where only one would be ultimately successful), as opposed to Malaysia's doomed reliance on a single national champion. Korea, Japan, and China would also impose rigorous obligations to export on their domestic producers.

Chapter three addresses the role of finance in successful development policy. Studwell's careful marshaling of the evidence suggests that there is really nothing to be gained from a liberal, lightly-regulated financial sector. Liberalized financial sectors are prone to massive swings in asset valuations, as occurred in Thailand in 1997. Indeed, the crisis hit South Korea in large measure because that country had moved to curb the power of the _chaebols_ by concentrating financial power in capital markets and NBFIs (4).

The Korean financial system created systemic risk for the South Korean economy that had not existed before, but for South East Asian economies, the financial system has amounted to another colonial power, suppressing any possible means these countries might have had of taking control of their economic destinies.

The chapter on China is excellent, although a bit short--most readers will feel it is suitably concise, without any damaging shortcuts. I feel there is some shortchanging of environmental issues (although it's not clear that neoliberalism is any better for air quality!), and the risks the Asian economies pose to each other: China's rise, for example, has posed extreme challenges to budding signs of life in the industrial economies of "other" Asia, not to mention Latin America. However, this book is a brilliant piece of work, with exceptionally thorough documentation and excellent writing.
________________________________________________

UPDATE (25 December 2013): After writing this review, I noticed a passage in Stuckler & Basu,  The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills  (2013) on the response of various East Asian nations to the Asian Currency Crisis (1997). While the Government of Malaysia gets low marks by Studwell for its management of economic development, it gets high marks from Stuckler & Basu for its management of health services during the crisis.

When the crisis hit, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad rejected IMF "assistance" because of the conditions imposed (B&S, pp.45-47); these conditions included massive budget cuts, so that the Asian economies would continue to run budget surpluses. The cuts invariably stimulated massive poverty, as intended by the IMF. Malaysia suffered the same dire collapse of GDP as its neighbors: 34%, compared to 30% in South Korea, 27% in Thailand, 56% in Indonesia, and so on. But Malaysia did not suffer a major increase in poverty, while South Korea's poverty rate doubled (11% in 1997 to 23% in 1998). Health care outcomes also worsened dramatically in countries following IMF conditions.

None of which is meant to detract from Studwell's book, but I feel this certainly does give a more comprehensive picture of the situation.
________________________________________________

(1) For a summary of the ten points of the Washington Consensus (WC), see Wing Thye Woo, "Serious Inadequacies of the Washington Consensus: Misunderstanding the Poor by the Brightest" pp.9-43 in Jan Joost Teunissen & Age Akkerman (editors), Diversity in Development : Reconsidering the Washington Consensus , FONDAD, The Hague, (2004). One crucial aspect of development economists in Western countries is their occupational need to constantly rewrite history, so as to divorce themselves from policy recommendations that turned out badly. The WC is especially convenient in this regard because it includes a combination of policies that can never be implemented concurrently, so the World Bank/IMF can always claim their policies were never implemented correctly.

Specifically, it is impossible to have (a) "liberal" (i.e., "market-determined") interest rates, (b) a "competitive" exchange rate, (c) "liberal" trade, and (d) "liberal" inflows of direct foreign investment--all at the same time. For one thing, (a), (c), and (d) preclude any control over the exchange rate.

(2) The go-to example of failure in this regard is the Philippines, which had the educational achievement necessary for developmental "take-off," but also a class dictatorship in the truest sense of the word--by the latifundias. Studwell hints rather strongly that this was a factor in the failures of Malaysia and Thailand as well.

(3) Ha-Joon Chang and many others have long made the case, in the face of massive bad-faith challenges, that all industrial countries became so under conditions of massively protected infant industries. See, for instance,  Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism , The East Asian Development Experience: The Miracle, the Crisis and the Future , and many others. See also Alice Amsden,  Escape from Empire: The Developing World's Journey through Heaven and Hell  (et alibi). For detailed accounts of European development, see Alfred D. Chandler,  Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism , and so on.

(4) As Studwell sagely observes, the adoption of neoliberal economic policies are often (usually) stimulated by real problems and ceiling effects of the prior regime. In Korea, the _chaebol_ naturally resisted state projects for development and sought more lucrative outlets in fields such as real estate. The government of Chun Doo Hwan responded by building up capital markets and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs). Capital markets, in practice, means investment banks, stock markets, etc. This scheme backfired because the Korean _chaebol_ won control over many of the NBFI. See Studwell, pp.183-184.
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George W.Taylor
4.0 out of 5 stars WHO KNEW THIS
Reviewed in Canada on May 22, 2018
HOW ASIA WORKS a book by Joe Studwell 366 pages of which 100 are note sources. This book was recommended by my son who worked in South Korea for five years and although the book was published in 2013 it applies today. It is a compilation of history of the economic development of China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as the North Asian grouping and Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia as the South East grouping of countries. The author has inserted far more detail than can be the subject of a book review but it goes from the early 1900s through WWI, WWII and the present including the reforms in early farming, industrialization and financial acumen of the different governments. The book crystallizes certain new economies for the countries discussed and how they work for these countries whereas total free enterprise and I M F and GATT including other free enterprise trading operations do not and would not work for these countries. This book should be read by international traders, economists, financiers and governments both inside and outside countries detailed. He explains how developing countries go through agrarian reform, land reform from their peasant populations, to industrial reform of manufacturing and resources to finally service industries of finance and banking. It was incumbent upon all of these developing nations to have government involvement at all the phases and strict control of all of these phases while trying to back winners. All of the countries brought in the best from Europe, US and other developing nations to guide them such as South Korea’s car Hyundai. All of these operations were not successful as some of the individuals brought in did not understand or worse were sabotaging in nature. The financial system of taxation, tariffs, and export exemptions, all were controlled by the government to create the industries of car manufacturing, steel manufacturing and electronics. Some countries were also plagued with corruption, favoritism, oligarchs, failures and successes. Only with the slow and government controlled were these countries able to gravitate to successful economies they are today to allow for the regulation and partially open markets. The Southeast Asian countries of Thailand Philippines Malaysia and Indonesia are examples of how not to do it compared to the North East. A well-researched and exemplary guide to the economies and investments in Asia.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Francisco Teixeira de Almeida
5.0 out of 5 stars Visões sobre o desenvolvimento dos países do Leste da Ásia
Reviewed in Brazil on September 2, 2022
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O livro aborda as razões pelas quais os diversos países asiáticos tiveram resultados diferentes na corrida na direção ao desenvolvimento econômico e social. A análise é bem detalhada, mas em linhas gerais as diferenças de resultado podem ser atribuídas à (1) efetiva reforma fundiária, privilegiando a agricultura de pequena escala e mais intensiva em mão-de-obra, (2) redistribuição de riqueza e melhoria da arrecadação derivadas da reforma fundiária, (3) política industrial para forçar os industrialistas a focarem na exportação, e (4) investimento em educação.
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Arun
5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Read
Reviewed in India on February 17, 2023
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Power packed narrative and with evidence. This book is a must read for all looking for that elusive growth. A collector’s book and would find a corner in thinking shelves.
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Sun
4.0 out of 5 stars Many facts and historical events
Reviewed in Germany on February 6, 2023
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The book delivers as promised. There's a lot of factual information and historical explanations on the success or failures of different areas of Asia.
If you get this book, you'll be thoroughly educated.
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Federico
5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book on Asian industrial policy
Reviewed in Italy on October 17, 2021
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I was a late reader of this excellent book, which provides a clear overview of what worked (and what dit not) in Asian national development strategies. Some critics say that the author takes in little consideration topics such as institutional theory, which, on the opposite, I consider a positive feature of the book: so much has been written about the role of institutions in shaping development paths that it would have been redundant to include this point of view in the book.
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José Macaya
5.0 out of 5 stars Razones por las que Japón, Corea, Taiwán y China están creciendo sólidamente.
Reviewed in Spain on January 29, 2021
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Muy bien explicadas las razones por las que Japón, Corea, Taiwán y China están creciendo sólidamente, mientras que Filipinas, Tailandia, Indonesia y Malasia no. No solo permite entender mejor lo que está sucediendo en Asia, sino que también permite comprender por qué Latinoamérica no despega, ni lo hará con las políticas que siguen sus países. Me pareció muy iluminador.
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