Session: Session 1 / Grand Ballroom I
Date/Time: April 30, 2013 / 12:30-13:45

Panel Description

The 2008 global financial crisis has called into question the “American” capitalist model. A diverse variety of models including capitalism with Chinese characteristics, India and Brazil’s democratic developmental capitalism, German, French, and Scandinavian eurocapitalism, and Singapore’s entrepreneurial small-market capitalism have emerged as alternatives. In Asia, aspects of each of these models are being examined for what they have to offer. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 was a catalyst for governance reforms in many Asian countries. The current crisis could similarly spur major Asian economies to make governments more transparent, efficient and accountable. The question, however, is whether Asian countries will pursue economic reforms (as they did after 1997) or undermine the benefits of trade by embracing anti-competitive and populist ideas?

Guiding Questions

1. What variations (if any) do you observe in the way East Asian governments have responded to the 1997 and 2008 financial crises?
2. How has the 2008 financial crisis affected the political discourse on the capitalist market economy in East Asia? Specifically, how are pro-market intellectuals and politicians re-shaping their discourse on the market?
3. How is the crisis shaping East Asian capitalism? Is there a shift towards the previous developmental state model, or the liberal market economy model, or an alternative form of capitalism?