ABSTRACT
In the annals of Asian economic history, July 1997 is likely to go down as the month of infamy. What began as a speculative attack on the Thai Baht quickly spread as “Contagion” to the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia. Singapore and Taiwan were affected too, but to a much lesser degree. Hong Kong-the citadel of Asian capitalism saw some spectacular attacks and an equally spectacular defense of the Hong Kong Dollar. The quickness and the severity with which the currencies fell caught many by surprise. Within a threemonth period (July-October 1997), the Baht had fallen close to 40 percent, the Philippine Peso and the Ringgit by about 27 percent and the Indonesia Rupiah by 40 percent against the US Dollar. South Korea saw its Won fall almost 35 percent against the US Dollar in the same period.
