Impact of the East Asian Financial Crisis Revisited

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Before 1997, the East Asian economies were enjoying economic prosperity characterized by unprecedented high economic growth and low unemployment rates with very low incidence of poverty. The so-called Asian economic miracle came to a sudden halt with the sharp currency depreciation that began in Thailand in mid-1997. At first, analysts thought that the crisis could be contained in just a few months but it turned out to be unprecedented in terms of the length, speed and severity of the contagion effect that spread to other countries in the region. This volume tackles the economic and social impacts of the financial crisis on six East Asian countries that experienced many of the crisis' worst effects: Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, China and the Philippines. It presents the analyses of the crisis' impacts carried out by researchers and analysts of the six countries and also evaluates the government programs and policies implemented to mitigate the negative impacts on the various sectors. More importantly, this volume discusses the lessons that can be learned from the crisis and provides important policy recommendations that could help government officials and policymakers alike to better handle crises in the future.