How Asia Works: Success and Failure In the World's Most Dynamic Region

Joe Studwell, a reporter with two decades of experience in Asia, examines the economies of nine countries—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China—to explain why some have thrived while others have struggled. Studwell identifies three critical factors in economic success: land policy, manufacturing, and finance. Land reform has been essential to Asian development, mobilizing large workforces and generating capital for growth. Industrial development alone is insufficient for manufacturing; instead, countries require "export discipline," where governments compel companies to compete globally. In finance, effective regulation is necessary to foster and sustain growth. Through detailed analysis and examples—from a Philippine sugar baron's resistance to reform to growth at a Korean steel mill—Studwell challenges Western misconceptions about Asian economies and clarifies the actual drivers of regional economic outcomes.