The Asian Financial & Economic Crisis

The Asian Economic Crisis caught most by surprise and raised new questions about the role the media plays in information dissemination. Some question whether the over-inflation of “bubble economies” resulted naturally from exaggerated reports of the region’s economic prowess. Others ask whether the tone and substance of reporting aggravated perceptions of the Crisis as it developed. This panel will explore the role of the media in the period leading up to the economic crisis and question the neutrality of the media in a time of great volatility in the region. Read the rest of this entry »

Crisis Response

SUBJECT: Obstacles to reforming the architecture of the international financial system.
SIGNIFICANCE: The outcome of attempts to redesign the international monetary architecture will depend on the course of the financial crisis itself.
ANALYSIS: The East Asian financial crisis has been transmitted to the rest of the world economy through two channels: Read the rest of this entry »

Financial Instability

SUBJECT: The links between financial and real instability in the world economy (Part 2 of 2: Financial risks in the advanced economies).
SIGNIFICANCE: The massive expansion of financial assets relative to real economic activity may have left the advanced economies more vulnerable to generalised disturbances in the international monetary system.
ANALYSIS: In the initial stages of the East Asian crisis, its effects were transmitted to the advanced economies mainly via changes in trade flows and commodity prices: Read the rest of this entry »