Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of NationsThe 50 years since witnessed a remarkable economic transformation with Asia emerging as a global economic powerhouse.
A half-century of Asian development was driven by economic growth characterised by high investment-savings rates and rapid industrialisation, often export-led, and associated with structural changes in the composition of output and employment. It also seems that the public provision of education and healthcare, combined with employment creation, sustained growth in Asian economies and improved the wellbeing of its people. This process characterised the success stories in Asia.
This changed rapidly thereafter. In Asia, openness did not mean a passive insertion into the world economy. Instead, it was often strategic and selective.