{
  "id": "RL30517",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30517",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101901,
      "date": "2000-04-06",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:37:28.341941",
      "title": "Asian Financial Crisis and Recovery: Status and Implications for U.S. Interests",
      "summary": "In terms of broad economic measurements, the Asian financial crisis largely has ended, but the\nsurprisingly swift recovery has left lingering economic and political problems that still could have\nnegative effects on U.S. interests. The economies that suffered most from the crisis that began with\nthe collapse of the Thai baht in July 1997 have regained positive economic growth, bolstered their\ntrade positions, sharply reduced interest rates, and rebuilt their international financial reserves. At\nthe same time, the recovery has been uneven and most of the IMF-assisted economies--Thailand,\nSouth Korea, and Indonesia--along with less affected Southeast Asian economies and the regional\ngiants, China and Japan, continue to suffer from serious problems of non-performing debt and\ncorporate governance. Many analysts worry that as growth increases and international reserves\nstrengthen, structural reforms will continue to be deflected by opposition from vested economic\nelites, labor unions, and populist, mass-based political parties. \n  One of the most striking initial consequences of the financial crisis was the revalidation and\nexpansion of democratic governance. Whether these gains will be sustained and expanded depends\non how effectively governments deal with the lingering socioeconomic effects of the crisis. In\nIndonesia, for instance, the democratic opening ushered in by the collapse of the authoritarian\nSuharto regime remains a fragile one. In late February 2000, Singapore's Finance Minister described \nthe question about Indonesia's political stability a \"key uncertainty\" affecting the wider economic\nrecovery of Southeast Asia. \n  The United States has suffered little evident economic harm from the crisis thus far, but the\neffects on U.S. regional political and security interests still could be substantial in the long run. U.S.\nprestige continues to be affected by the perception that the United States was dictating the IMF's\npainful conditionality while itself contributing little in the way of direct bilateral financial assistance. \nGenerally speaking, the United States has not received much public credit for its role as the crucial\nmarket of first resort for the recovering economies. Japan, on the other hand, has earned plaudits\nfor providing more than $30 billion in aid and export credits, even though Japan's economic\nproblems arguably contributed to and intensified the crisis. Because the crisis has tended to\nundermine the strength and solidarity of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),\nwhile leaving China relatively unscathed, it also has created the potential for regional power shifts\nthat could threaten U.S. interests.\n  Some indicators suggest that the so-called \"East Asian\" economic model, which relied on\nunrestrained debt and close government-business collusion, is in retreat, and that a more transparent,\nmore equity-based, and more fully entrepreneurial economic model may be emerging. At present,\nhowever, due to the use of public funds for bank recapitalization, governments are even more heavily\ninvolved in many Asian economies than in the past, and powerful vested interests continue to fight\na rearguard action against needed structural reforms and efforts to reduce huge levels of non-\nperforming debt.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Asian Affairs",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}