From Asian to Global Financial Crisis: An Asian Regulator's View of Unfettered Finance in the 1990s and 2000s

by Andrew Sheng

This is a unique insider account of the new world of unfettered finance. The author, an Asian regulator, examines how old mindsets, market fundamentalism, loose monetary policy, carry trade, lax supervision, greed, cronyism, and financial engineering caused both the Asian crisis of the late 1990s and the current global crisis of 2008–2009. This book shows how the Japanese zero interest rate policy to fight deflation helped create the carry trade that generated bubbles in Asia whose effects brought Asian economies down. The study’s main purpose is to demonstrate that global finance is so interlinked and interactive that our current tools and institutional structure to deal with critical episodes are completely outdated. The book explains how current financial policies and regulation failed to deal with a global bubble and makes recommendations on what must change.

Genres: Finance, Economics, Asia

504 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2005

Reviews

[Richard Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included in a long career in Asian finance, Andrew worked through the build up and aftermath of the Thai Baht Crisis in 1997 and its spillovers to the Asian and global emerging markets. This experience sets the basis of an insightful and constructively critical narrative, from an Asian regulator's point of view, of (i) the political, institutional, policy-related, technological and macroeconomic antecedents to the volatile global markets of the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, and (ii) the lessons for the future. This unique perspective sets this book apart from many of the studies of recent financial crises.

[Pandakongfu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a deeper understanding of the importance of the soundness of the financial market, and how the weakness of the financial market trigerred the financial crisis, a good book to relate to the current financial crisis too. Various cases in different countries made the Asian crisis vivid in front of my eyes.

[Rajesh Yadav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone working in the banking sector ought to read this book to get to know about the importance of financial institutions and the role one can play by doing his/her bit in improving the overall banking system. Its a little heavy on data at times but definitely worth a read.

[Dez Van Der Voort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing: 5/5
Knowledge Gained: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

This is some hard, dry economic book, not short either. For those only with truly a keen interest in the asian financial crisis. One of the best books on this subject. Top notch quality in writing, graphs and tables presented, and analysis, as well as some primary source (himself) of what happened.

[Jo Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has provided much useful statistics in the book, together with detailed chronicles of events happening across Asian economies. For me, detailed case studies are always the best way to learn economics, and this book contains many good ones.