The Economic Performance of the ASEAN Economies from the Mid-1990s

Professor Booth provides an incisive analysis of the performance of the ASEAN economies since the 1997 financial crisis. The major economies, including Singapore, have failed fully to recover the growth momentum that they enjoyed before the crisis. The major explanations for this disappointing recovery are reviewed and it is argued that the key factors include deep seated structural problems that were already coming to the fore before the 1997 crisis. This is particularly the case for Indonesia and Thailand, where successive governments have found it extremely difficult effectively to address these problems. This inability, combined with changes in the regional and global economies, has left these countries vulnerable to adverse trading and financial conditions.