Summary

The collapse of state socialism in the Soviet bloc and the political upheavals in China following the Tiananmen Square incident have created the impression that neoclassical economics holds the key to global economic development and prosperity. This book challenges that view by comparing the post-war development histories of East and South Asia. The authors first show how the neoclassical model can be used to explain the significant development that has occurred not only in dynamic, industrialised East Asia, but in agrarian South Asia as well. They then take a closer look and demonstrate that laissez-faire economics may not in fact be an ideal model - that despite all the gains, South Asia's agricultural sectors remain backward and neglected, and East Asian economies are experiencing serious side effects, such as pollution and social decay. They conclude that governments need to guide the development process even more so than they do now in East Asia - and that the concept of development must be expanded to take into account the social impacts of economic growth.