Building a Prosperous Southeast Asia
by Yoshihara Kunio

In Building a Prosperous Southeast Asia Professor Yoshihara, author of The Rise of Ersatz Capitalism in Southeast Asia, who has a distinguished record of research and publications on the Southeast Asian economies over the last 30 years, looks beyond the causes of the crisis to discuss what can be done to build a dynamic economy in Asia to ensure prosperity for the future. The author takes the viewpoint that the only way to build such an economy is to promote integration into the global economy through free trade and free capital movement. He puts forward a convincing argument that government intervention is not the way to make progress and it has in fact helped cause the present economic crisis. He also argues that, despite the dire economic situation in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, a prosperous future is possible by renovating institutions and adopting new attitudes. The book is aimed at decision makers in the Southeast Asia region plus all intelligent readers who are advised how they can have some influence over events for the future. The book is most timely and has lessons for other parts of the world as well as Southeast Asia.