Resurgent Asia

Diversity in Development

Deepak Nayyar

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Assesses how development thinking and development outcomes in Asia have changed since Gunnar Myrdal published Asian Drama 50 years ago.
Situates development in Asia within historical perspectives and political and social factors
Connects the present with the past to reflect on the future of Asia
An open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence

Resurgent Asia

Diversity in Development

Deepak Nayyar

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Description

Gunnar Myrdal published his magnum opus Asian Drama, in 1968, to conclude that Asia's development prospects were gloomy. Since then, contrary to Myrdal's expectations Asia has been transformed beyond recognition, the development of nations and living standards of people revolutionized. These transformations have been uneven across countries and unequal among people. Yet, Asia's economic progress in this short timespan has been remarkable and almost unprecedented in history.

Resurgent Asia provides an analytical narrative of Asia's incredible economic development, situated in the wider context of historical, political, and social factors. It also provides an economic analysis of underlying factors that assisted Asia's growth and the critical issues in the process of development.

Resurgent Asia studies not only the sub-regions East, Southeast, South, and West Asia, but also the major countries - China, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka- which account for more than four-fifths of Asia's population and income.

Resurgent Asia

Diversity in Development

Deepak Nayyar

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

1. Historical perspective and initial conditions
2. The rise of Asia
3. The macroeconomics of growth
4. Structural change and economic transformation
5. Openness and industrialization
6. Markets, governments, and politics
7. Unequal outcomes for countries and people
8. Asian development and the world economy
9. Contemplating the future

Resurgent Asia

Diversity in Development

Deepak Nayyar

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Author Information

Deepak Nayyar, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Deepak Nayyar is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He was previously Distinguished University Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research, New York and taught at the University of Oxford, the University of Sussex, and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He served as Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi, and as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. He has published widely in academic journals. His books include Asian Transformation: An Inquiry into the Development of Nations, and Catch Up: Developing Countries in the World Economy, both Oxford University Press.

Resurgent Asia

Diversity in Development

Deepak Nayyar

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Reviews and Awards

"Nayyar comes to the task with exceptional academic qualifications and real-world national and international policy experience. The book, magisterial in scope, blends wide-angled study of the Asian experience overall (minus already industrialized Japan) with a detailed granular study of four sub-regions and 14 countries. It combines a wealth of empirical data with numerous tables and charts and an analytical narrative with a compelling storyline. Nayyar also has a rare command of the language that makes the book a pleasure to read...executives in Japan's aid bureaucracy could benefit professionally from reading this book and absorbing its lessons for successful pathways to development." -- Ramesh Thakur, Australian National University, The Japan Times

"Nayyar's brilliant analysis, based on historical and statistical analysis, using the Asian perspective, enables the reader to understand the socio-economic transformation of Asia in the past 50 years. Students of economic development, researchers and economic policymakers will find the book an excellent reference material." -- U. Sankar, Frontline

"I read Resurgent Asia with a pulsating joy and a lingering feeling that something momentous is at stake in Asia." -- Ashwani Kumar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Financial Express

"Nayyar's painstaking statistical compilation demonstrates clearly as to what policies worked and what could not." -- Sanjaya Baru, Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis, The Indian Express

"This is a positive story that combines marshalling of data and culling of stories about growth over the past 50 years." -- Siddharth Singh, Open the Magazine