About the book
The idea of a single East Asian economic miracle is the target of Joe Studwell's study of nine countries: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, China and Vietnam, and the south-east Asian states of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Drawing on extensive research, he argues that the region was never one uniform bloc rising together. Policies that economists mocked produced economic titans in Japan, Korea and Taiwan and now sit behind the rise of China, while the advice the West gave its south-east Asian allies left them behind. The result is a readable account of why some of these economies boomed and others languished, aimed at anyone curious about a region expected to shape the future of the world.
Bill Gates named it among the best books he read in 2014, saying Studwell gives convincing answers to why Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China sustained high growth while so few other countries managed it, starting with conditions that let small farmers thrive.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Bill Gates (CEO/Microsoft)
Studwell produces compelling answers to two of the greatest questions in development economics: How did countries like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China achieve sustained, high growth? And why have so few other countries managed to do so? His answers come in the form of a simple—and yet hard to execute—formula:
- (1) create conditions for small farmers to thrive,
- (2) use the proceeds from agricultural surpluses to build a manufacturing base focused on exports, and
- (3) nurture both these sectors with financial institutions closely controlled by the government.
The agriculture section of the book was particularly insightful. It provided ample food for thought for me as well as the whole Agriculture team at our foundation. And it left us thinking about whether parts of the Asian model can apply in Africa.
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