Asia and the Global Crisis

The financial aspects of the developments that unfolded in East Asia two years ago have been debated extensively, but the role played by industry and industry policies has been little touched upon. In this report, the OECD explodes the myth of conspiracy and evil design, showing that well-intentioned and previously successful economic policies put the Asian economies at risk. The report further shows that the Asian breakdown had far-reaching structural global implications extending beyond the financial sphere. Learning the lessons from the crisis will be important for continued recovery in Asia, and may be crucial for reducing the risk of similar crashes in the future. The OECD argues that far-reaching industry-related reforms are needed to accompany the measures being taken to address the financial aspects of the crisis.