How Asia Works 读后感

作者：Joe Studwell

In the 1980s and 1990s many in the West came to believe in the myth of an East-Asian economic miracle. Japan was going to dominate, then China. Countries were called tigers or mini-dragons, and were seen as not just development prodigies, but as a unified bloc, culturally and economically similar, and inexorably on the rise.Joe Studwell has spent two decades as a reporter in the region, and The Financial Times said he should be named chief myth-buster for Asian business. In How Asia Works, Studwell distills his extensive research into the economies of nine countriesJapan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Chinainto an accessible, readable narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished.Studwell's in-depth analysis focuses on three main areas: land policy, manufacturing, and finance. Land reform has been essential to the success of Asian economies, giving a kick start to development by utilizing a large workforce and providing capital for growth. With manufacturing, industrial development alone is not sufficient, Studwell argues. Instead, countries need export discipline, a government that forces companies to compete on the global scale. And in finance, effective regulation is essential for fostering, and sustaining growth. To explore all of these subjects, Studwell journeys far and wide, drawing on fascinating examples from a Philippine sugar baron's stifling of reform to the explosive growth at a Korean steel mill.Thoroughly researched and impressive in scope, How Asia Works is essential reading for anyone interested in the development of these dynamic countries, a region that will shape the future of the world.

How Asia Works在线阅读地址

花了三十多个小时终于看完了。

主题是发展经济学之农业国如何实现工业化。发展路径是个体农业-出口导向工业-可控金融业。这条发展路径经验的主线是英国-美国（汉密尔顿）-德国（弗里德里希.李斯特）-日本（明治时期）-韩国（朴正熙）、中国台湾（两蒋）-中国大陆（改革开放邓小平朱镕基）。

与东北亚形成鲜明对照的是东南亚，在独立后也历经改革，却没取得预期的成效。正好在读温铁军的《八次危机》，书中对于“发展陷阱”的描述比较精辟:为了重新让“中华民族自立于世界民族之林”，唯赖国家工业化才能维护主权独立，而任何工业化都绕不开资本的原始积累；只要在“资本极度缺乏”条件下就势必仰赖外资，遂势必被要求“亲资本”的制度干犯本国流血牺牲才换得的主权独立——这导致了大多数发展中国家深陷于“发展陷阱”的悖论中。

本书对于中国问题的研究也颇具启发性，我们的道路总体上是正确的，然而也有值得商榷的地方，隐忧也是存在的。特别是对于公有领域和私有领域有倾斜地并行发展到底好不好，还真不是只考虑经济效率和国际竞争就能来评价的。至于基于民主化和去管制的制度建设，都算是改革的深水区，需要“摸着石头过河”与顶层设计相结合，只希望顶层能“实事求是”。作者的观察止于工业化，所以对于信息产业基本无视，这就有点一叶障目了。中国在后工业化时代由于对私有企业的偏废，没怎么培育出中流企业的国际巨头，甚至在国际经济危机中也错失机会没淘到什么好东西。但好歹赶上了信息时代的晚班车，以AT为首的互联网相关企业在国际上占得了一席之地，很可能就是中国实现弯道超越的发动机。

工业化的道路这条独好，而面临新时代，是不是道路也只有一条？即使是这样，那究竟是哪一条，还未有定论。我们以如此的禀赋与机遇，确实有坚持道路自信的底气和责任。艰苦奋斗，实事求是，是我们永远的法宝。