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ECON 374 Asia-Pacific Economic Development
Course Objectives
The world that is emerging after the Cold War is characterized increasingly by economic competition on the global scale and economic interdependency that comes with it. This was evidenced dramatically, for example, by the global economic and financial crisis that began in Thailand in 1997, spread quickly to the rest of East Asia, then to Russia, and on to Latin America. The social consequences of this crisis in some developing countries have been tragic ¾ increased income inequality and poverty, crime, political turmoil, and the adverse impact especially on children, whose education was frequently interrupted.
This course focuses on the economic development of the Asia-Pacific region encompassing East and Southeast Asian countries on the Pacific Rim. The importance of this region to the United States and as a key player in the new century can hardly be overemphasized. The course is motivated in providing a framework for critical thinking and analysis on some of the key issues at stake, introducing tools of economic analysis where they are appropriate. The problems we address are complex, and you will quickly realize that there are often no ready solutions; however, the combination of the background knowledge you acquire regarding the institutional, economic and social conditions of these countries with a series of economic analysis we undertake will go a long way toward shedding light on the fundamental issued involved. They include such questions as: How did East Asia achieve such a high, sustained economic growth for over a quarter of century through the mid-1990s? What role did public policy play in it? What brought on the financial and economic crisis of 1997-98 in the region? What policy recourse was available, and what was done to deal with the crisis? Can the recurrence of similar crises be prevented in the future, and if so, how? What lessons can be drawn from the experience of East Asian economic development for the developing nations of the world? What are the linkages and their mechanism that bind the Asia-Pacific region to the rest of the Pacific Rim and the world? What is the future of the regional integration framework, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)?
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