Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998, there has been a deep and abiding desire on the part of Asian policy makers and opinion makers to enhance the region's economic, monetary and financial self-sufficiency — or at least to ring-fence the region against financial instability and give it a louder voice in global financial affairs. There has been progress in these directions, notably in the form of the Chiang Mai Initiative of financial supports and the Asian Bond Market Initiative to build a single Asian financial market. But progress is hindered by disagreements among the principal national governments — Japan, China and South Korea — and resistance to the development of an Asian bloc from both Europe and the United States.
This volume considers these issues from a number of different national and analytical perspectives. Scholars from all the relevant regions and countries are represented: Japan, China, Korea, Europe and the United States. While there have been a few previous books and articles concerned with the issue of Asian integration, this is one of the first volumes to successfully draw together top contributors from these different countries and regions to address the issues in a rigorous but relatively accessible way.
Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 1: Introduction (65 KB)
Contents:
- Editors' Introduction (D-K Chung & B Eichengreen)
- Fostering Monetary and Exchange Rate Cooperation in East Asia (B Eichengreen)
- The Connections between Financial and Monetary Cooperation in East Asia (H-Y Chai & D R Yoon)
- Financial Integration and Exchange Rate Coordination in East Asia (W Moon & Y Rhee)
- An Asian Currency Unit for Regional Exchange Rate Policy Coordination (M Kawai)
- Asian Monetary Unification: Lessons from Europe (P De Grauwe)
- Managing Foreign Exchange Reserves: The Case of China (Y Yu)
- The Integration Process in East Asia: Japan's Experience and Policy Agenda (M Itoh)
Readership: Economists and undergraduate/graduate students in economics and finance; government officials/policy makers and lay readers interested in a rigorous but relatively nontechnical analysis of Asian economic integration; scholars, students and policy makers interested in monetary and financial regionalism in East Asia.
“It has been just over a decade since the Asian Financial crisis. One notable after-effect of the crisis has been the intensification of regional cooperation within the region, particularly in the monetary and financial areas. How far has cooperation progressed, what has been achieved, and what remains to be done? This book brings together papers from some top scholars from Asia, the US and Europe who examine exactly these kinds of issues using a variety of approaches.”
Ramkishen S Rajan
Associate Professor
School of Public Policy, George Mason University
“Together, these first-class essays provide an illuminating view of the lively debate about monetary cooperation in East Asia. Experiences are told and clear economic analyses are combined with lucid evaluations of the many proposals on the table. This book provides a perfect introduction to the topic as well as an up-to-date overview of the state of play.”
Charles Wyplosz
The Graduate Institute, Geneva
“This timely volume is a very balanced discussion by experts from different backgrounds about the technical requirements, the economic costs and benefits, and the political feasibility of using exchange rate coordination to begin the process of surrendering national monetary policies to a supranational central bank. Every scholar interested in the financial and monetary aspects of Asian economic integration would profit tremendously from reading these excellent analyses.”
Wing Thye Woo
Professor of Economics
University of California at Davis and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
“Monetary and financial stability continues to be an elusive goal around the globe. In East Asia, their pursuit is inextricably linked to broader issues of intra-regional economic policy cooperation. This volume of expertly crafted papers provides a critical assessment of recent efforts and future prospects. East Asia faces unique challenges at both national and regional levels, challenges rooted in its history, in the diversity among its economies and in the region's position in the world economy. If you need a highly accessible treatment of this important issue, then this is the book for you.”
Sven W Arndt
C M Stone Professor
Claremont McKenna College
Dr Duck-Koo Chung is the chairman of the NEAR Foundation and an adjunct professor of Business Administration at the Korea University in Korea. He also served the Korean government as the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy and as a Member of National Assembly. Among his publications are The Korean Economy Beyond the Crisis and Toward an East Asian Exchange Rate Regime (both coedited with Barry Eichengreen).
Barry Eichengreen is George C Pardee and Helen N Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He has worked extensively on economic development and regional integration in Asia. Among his publications are Toward an East Asian Exchange Rate Regime (also coedited with Dr Duck-Koo Chung).
