The Asian Financial Crisis: Causes, Cures, and Systemic Implications (Policy Analyses in International Economics)

The turmoil that has rocked Asian markets since the middle of 1997, and that is now having such deep effects on the economies in the region, is the third major currency crisis of the 1990s. This study explains how the Asian crisis arose and spread. It then outlines the corrective policy measures that could help end the crisis, and the shortcomings that have been revealed in the international financial system that require reform to reduce the chances of a recurrence. In analyzing the origins of the crisis, the author emphasizes three interrelated sets of factors: financial sector weaknesses in Asian emerging economies along with easy global liquidity conditions; mounting concerns about external sector problems in these countries; and contagion of financial pressures from Thailand (both around and beyond the region). The discussion of policy initiatives to help end the crisis focuses, inter alia, on: restructuring and reform of financial sectors and prudential oversight in Asia itself; on fiscal policies and measures to deal with the bad loan problem in Japan; on exchange rate policy; and on the design and effectiveness of IMF-led official rescue packages. "The turmoil that has rocked Asian markets since the middle of 1997, and that is now having such deep effects on the economies in the region, is the third major currency crisis of the 1990s. This study explains how the Asian crisis arose and spread. It then outlines the corrective policy measures that could help end the crisis, and the shortcomings that have been revealed in the international financial system that require reform to reduce the chances of a recurrence." "In analyzing the origins of the crisis, the author emphasizes three interrelated sets of factors: financial sector weaknesses in Asian emerging economies along with easy global liquidity conditions; mounting concerns about external sector problems in these countries; and contagion of financial pressures from Thailand (both around and beyond the region)." "The discussion of policy initiatives to help end the crisis focuses, inter alia, on: restructuring and reform of financial sectors and prudential oversight in Asia itself; on fiscal policies and measures to deal with the bad loan problem in Japan; on exchange rate policy; and on the design and effectiveness of IMF-led official rescue packages. Book jacket."--Jacket The turmoil that rocked Asian markets after the middle of 1997 and that spread far afield was the third major currency crisis of the 1990s. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea suffered outright recessions in 1998. In an effort to contain the crisis, almost $120 billion was pledged in IMF-led official rescue packages. How could this happen to a group of countries that has been so highly regarded in the 1990's by private international capital markets? How could the crisis be overcome, and what changes are necessary to prevent it from happening again? Morris Goldstein provides the answers to these questions by first explaining how the Asian financial crisis arose and spread. He traces the crisis through its three interrelated financial sector weaknesses; external sector problems; and the contagion that spread from Thailand to other countries. Goldstein then outlines what needed to be done in the ASEAN-4 economies, in Japan and China, and in the design of IMF-led official rescue packages to end the crisis. Goldstein's final remarks offer specific proposals for improving the international financial architecture. iie.com......Page 0 Asian Financial Crisis: Causes, Cures, and Systemic Implications -- Morris Goldstein, Institute for International Economics......Page 1 http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/22/1iie261x.pdf......Page 3 http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/22/2iie261x.pdf......Page 4 http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/22/3iie261x.pdf......Page 5 http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/22/4iie261x.pdf......Page 6 http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/22/5iie261x.pdf......Page 7 http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/22/aiie261x.pdf......Page 8