In the forests of the night : second report of the Asian Economic Crisis Monitoring Group

Abstract

In this paper we focus on the effects of the crisis on New Zealand exports, including the effects on New Zealand manufacturers, on the effects of the crisis on growth in East Asia, on the effects of the crisis on the education sector in New Zealand, and on some of the elements of political instability in Indonesia. We are retaining the use of the word "crisis" because no other seems to describe more precisely the condition of several countries of East Asia. An argument can be advanced that the crisis occurred during 1997, the International Monetary Fund responded to the circumstances of that time, and that the region is recovering. According to this line of reasoning, the term "crisis" lacks accuracy for the new set of conditions. We do not deny that there have been changes during the crisis and that the region is in a different phase than it was a year ago. Nor would we want to insist that all countries in the region are in crisis. Nevertheless, we have found no other word to convey adequately the mixture of urgent, serious, and unresolved aspects of the financial, economic, social and political conditions which have beset a group of countries and which present a huge regional problem.