Introduction and overview

In the late 1970s it seemed evident that U.S. corporations were losing their global competitive edge as the Asian economies grew far more rapidly than any other region in the world. The World Bank referred to a number of countries in the region as “high performing Asian economies.”1 Most notable amongst these was Thailand, which was described as the fastest growing economy, and which both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regularly used as a model for other nations to follow.2 Other countries that received favorable assessments from these agencies include Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. China and Philippines also saw higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth than the rich industrial countries between 1990–1996. While the rich industrial countries including the U.K. and the U.S. posted an average annual 2% GDP growth between 1990 and 1996, the Asian countries surveyed in this book showed higher levels of GDP growth for the same period. All the countries except the Philippines (2.8%) posted more than 5% annual average GDP growth (The Economist, March 1, 1997).