The substantial slowdown of economic growth since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 is rekindling debate on whether developing Asia should use fiscal expansion to boost aggregate demand. A key factor in the debate is the effectiveness of countercyclical fiscal policy in the region. The...

Developing Asia has weathered the global economic crisis well and is experiencing a rapid, robust V-shaped recovery. According to conventional wisdom, the fiscal stimulus packages put in place by the region's governments played a key role in the region's superior postcrisis performance. The...

Developing Asia has traditionally relied on exports to the United States (US) and other industrialized countries for demand and growth. As a result, the collapse of exports to the US and other industrialized countries during the global financial and economic crisis has sharply curtailed gross...

The recession in the United States in the wake of the global financial crisis has had a pronounced negative impact on developing Asia’s exports and growth. As a result, developing Asian countries are increasingly looking to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a new source of demand and...

Developing Asia has weathered the global economic crisis well and is experiencing a rapid, robust V-shaped recovery. According to conventional wisdom, the fiscal stimulus packages put in place by the region's governments played a key role in the region's superior postcrisis performance. The...

In most developing countries, income inequality tends to worsen during initial stages of growth, especially in urban areas. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) provides a sharp contrast where income inequality among urban households is lower than that among rural households. In terms of...

We investigate changes in Asia’s regional and global trade linkages and their influence on macroeconomic relationships among Asia, Europe, and United States (US). We first document changes in trade patterns of East Asia, Europe, and US and discuss stylized facts about East Asia’s trade...

This paper calculates the decline in costs involving merchandise trade between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India during the period 1980–2008. Drawing from the recent literature, a comprehensive measure of trade costs is derived from a theory-founded gravity model of...

ASEAN and China are economic partners as well as economic competitors. A widely proposed means of strengthening the economic partnership is to form a free trade area between the two. Our primary objective is to use insights from customs union theory to examine whether an ASEAN-China Free Trade...