The following article ( in parts here) appeared in the NYT on July 10, 1998.
"Will Asia Turn Against the West ?"
by Fareed Zaharia
The fire raging in East Asia today jeopardizes one of the central achievements of postwar American foreign policy - the stabilization and growth of East Asia. Even more dangerously,if it continues to fester, this crisis could undermine support for an open global economy and economic and political liberalization across the world.
The facts are bleak. In the last two years Indonesia's economy has shrunk by almost 80%, Thailand's by 50 %, South Korea's by 45 %, Malaysia's by 25%. Even islands of prosperity like Hong Kong and Singapore are in deepening recessions. Currencies and stock markets have plunged to unimaginable lows; unemployment and poverty are climbing to new highs.
Chas: Gee, capitalism don't work too good. It seems like it uses you , then loses you.
article continued : To take the worst example, Indonesia's per capita gross domestic product has dropped from $3,500 to less than $ 750, wiping out 25 years of economic progress. Some 100 million people - almost half of that vast country - have sunk below the poverty level, and fears of a famine are growing. President B.J. Habibe has called on his citizens to fast twice a week to lessen the need to import food. Japan, the only nation that could spur a new round of growth i the region, has now slipped firmly into its second recession in five years.
Chas: The business cycle and crisis seems to be still part of capitalism.
To be continued
Charles Brown