ABSTRACT

This book situates the evolution of capitalist economies along Asia's Pacific Rim after the Second World War within broader global, political and economic changes. Specifically, it charts their growth at the interface of periodic crises and successive waves of restructuring, and links changes in the world economy to shifts in regional dynamics in east and southeast Asia. It suggests that while the expansion of Japanese corporate networks was crucial to the emergence of the region as a low-cost exporter to the world, the reintegration of China into the world market will free the region from its dependence on the US as a market of last resort.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

Dragons, tigers, and other myths of our time

chapter 1|30 pages

Geopolitical ecology of US hegemony

chapter 2|34 pages

Strong states, weak societies

State and class in the Asian rimlands

chapter 3|43 pages

The making of industrial behemoths

Patterns of state intervention and industrial organization

chapter 5|45 pages

Debts and delusions

Crumbling of a regional economy

chapter 6|27 pages

A bonfire of illusions

chapter |10 pages

Epilogue

A future imperfect: Remaking a regional economy