Introduction

The Global Economic Crisis (GEC) of 2008 and 2009 which was brought to a head by the collapse of the brokerage firm Lehman Brothers in the United States in September 2008 sent shock waves around the world. Global economic growth stuttered, exports suffered, and poverty increased. This book looks at the GEC through the lens of the Asian region and highlights the challenges that the region faces in a financially integrated world. Slightly over a decade since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997–98, the countries in the region were once again hit by a financial crisis. The book examines in detail: (i) how Asian countries were affected by the GEC; (ii) how they responded to the crisis — what actions they took to manage and resolve the crisis and to prevent a similar crisis from occurring in the future; and (iii) what more remains to be done. Asian countries took actions at the national (country) level and also at the regional level. Asian countries have also been active in the reform of the international financial architecture. As the world emerges from the crisis toward the end of 2009 and early 2010, the book takes stock of what has been achieved so far and what more needs to be done in the future.