The dynamics of a global economy is being reshaped by the economic emergence of two Asian giants, China and India. How the world’s two most populous countries manage globalization as they pursue economic reform and liberalization will impact significantly their societies, the rest of Asia, and...

Following the East Asian crisis, some prominent economists have advocated that small and open economies in Asia adopt an irrevocably fixed regime. Such a hard peg, it is argued, signals greater commitment to rule out arbitrary exchange rate adjustments as well as the authorities (IM) willingness...

This paper provides a detailed study of the crisis in Thailand with the goal of determining the usefulness of existing currency crisis theory to the breakdown of the baht's de facto dollar peg in 1997-98. We do not attempt to provide a comprehensive survey of the currency crisis literature; nor...

This paper explores the case for an Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) in light of the East Asian crisis. It discusses the role of such a regional facility, and attempts to clarify important issues such as its functional relationship to the IMF. Available evidence stresses that contagion is largely a...

Increasing capital inflows and sustained interest rate spreads were important features in East Asia prior to the crisis of 1997-98. But why did capital inflows fail to eliminate interest rate differentials? Why were inflows associated with rising domestic interest rates that then perpetuated the...

The 1990s have witnessed three broad periods of severe turbulence in international financial markets. The turmoil in Brazil, East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines) and Russia in 1997-99 was preceded by the Mexican-Tequila crisis in 1994-95 and the virtual...

Following the recent financial crises in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, the perennial issue of the exchange rate policy options for small and open developing countries has resurfaced. There seems to be an emerging consensus that the frequency with which "soft pegs" have been susceptible to...