Before the current economic crisis exploded, most Asian policymakers and intellectuals believed that when it came to the theory and practice of economic development, the west knew best. This conviction was justified. For two centuries or more, western economies had far outperformed their own. Asian economies only began to perform well when they accepted and implemented Adam Smith’s theories of free-market economics.
However, when the crisis led to a global recession, with severe downturns in several major western economies, many Asians began to question their belief in western competence. An important distinction needs to be stressed here: while Asians have retained their faith in western theories on economics, they have progressively lost faith in western practices of economic management.
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