Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s Blog

Asian elites have always looked at the world differently from western elites. And after this crisis is over, the gap in perspectives will widen. Asians will naturally view with caution any western advice on economics, particularly because most Asians believe that the crisis has only vindicated the Asian approach to capitalism.To be accurate, there is [...]

With the recent sharp decline in Chinese manufacturing output, the global decoupling theory seems to have died a well-deserved death.  The idea that developing countries had become less dependent on US economic conditions, and so were insulated from the US crisis, was based on a potent combination of bad analysis and wishful thinking.  In fact [...]

After the co-ordinated rate cuts by the major economies, in October, the Chinese cut interest rates in a show of solidarity. Now the rest of the world is talking about fiscal stimulus, and China is charging ahead. The State Council has announced a vast fiscal stimulus programme to pull China through the coming grim years. [...]

The Asian countries learnt many valuable lessons from their financial crisis in 1998: do not liberalise the financial sector too quickly, borrow in moderation, save in earnest, take care of the real economy, invest in productivity, focus on education.  Hence, while America was busy creating a financial house of cards, Asians focused on their real [...]