The Asian Century: The Economic Ascent of the Pacific Rim and What It Means for the West

A journalist offers a country-by-country analysis of Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. No bibliography. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

YA-- Written after Tiananmen Square, this book examines the current strengths and concerns of the major Asian powers--Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. There are some interesting commonalities that all are coping with in varying degrees: an aging population, diminishing resources and management of what is left, and the role of gender--specifically women--in the respective societies. However, Weiss considers each power separately so that thorough attention is given to the uniqueness of each. He also examines an economic coalition, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and considers its potential impact on American trade. Altogether, he has provided students in economics and global studies programs with a rich, invaluable, and accessible resource.
-Barbara Weathers, Duchesne Academy, Houston
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Journalist Weiss analyzes the Century of the Pacific in this sober, fact-filled volume. His balanced analysis reveals both the strengths and the surprising weaknesses of the economies of Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malayasia, countries dependent on U.S. markets, technology and capital. If the U.S. sneezes, the East Asian economies may well die of pneumonia, according to Weiss. He shows that their low-wage advantage is evaporating, that gluts in the auto, steel and shipbuilding industries and a tougher international trading environment in the 1990s will likely end the era of double-digit economic growth along the Pacific Rim. Weiss carefully evaluates each country's potential for future growth and notes opportunities for U.S. companies. Recent events have made some of the information here dated, however, and the prose is merely workmanlike.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A knowledgeable journalist's fast-paced economic primer on East and Southeast Asia written for U.S. businesspeople. After a quick review of recent developments, Weiss examines the economic prospects for Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He is generally optimistic, but is pessimistic regarding Hong Kong for political reasons. Weiss's focus is on the high-tech futures of electronics, robotics, fifth-generation computers, and biotechnology. Chock-full of information--some of it right, some of it wrong--the book is both too general for the businessperson and too detailed for the general reader. The chapters are quite uneven in quality. One hopes that "the Asian century" will be served by better books than this.
- Steven I. Levine, Duke Univ., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.