Malaysian Eclipse: Economic Crisis and Recovery

Examines the Malaysian economic crisis of 1997-98. The book argues that the crisis was not due to macroeconomic profligacy on the part of governments, but was due to foreign portfolio investor sentiment, herd behaviour, transborder contagion, reversal of short-term capital flows, asset price deflation and their ramifications. The Malaysian economy is compared to others in the region and the effects of contradictory fiscal and monetary policies are traced. The remarkable recovery in Malaysia seen as principally due to successful Keynesian reflationary efforts as well as fortuitous external circumstances, most notably the electronics boom. The authors conclude that reform in the international financial system is urgently needed, but warn that reform prospects have worsened with economic recovery and the apparently receding threat of fresh crises.