Rise of the Asian Economies
Course Number: 84-315
For most of the past 40 years, no region of the world has been more economically dynamic than Asia. This economic growth transformed the patterns of world trade, lifted millions out of absolute poverty, and so captivated the attention of Western economists and business leaders that it was commonplace by the early 1990s to refer to the economic achievements of these countries as the "East Asian miracle." The nature of this apparent miracle changed dramatically over the course of the 1990s as the most advanced economy in the region, Japan, suffered a sharp growth slowdown, and a number of the other "miracle" economies were engulfed in a regional economic crisis in the latter half of the decade. These events highlighted weaknesses in the East Asian growth model that had been hidden during the boom years. Despite these economic problems, accelerating growth in the world's most populous countries, China and India, helped sustain regional progress and kept global attention focused on economic growth in Asia through the 2000s and 2010s, even though the growth and the international attention were largely concentrated in a different set of countries. However, new worries about Chinese economic growth have emerged in recent years. Is China's growth miracle slowing down? How does the economic history of Asia's more advanced economies inform our view of the future economic prospects for India and China? In what ways are China and India pursuing a different path to economic development than that taken by their predecessors? The United States has long played an important role in Asia as an investor, customer, and key ally of important nations in the region. How will the policies of the Trump Administration shape these important relationships and the future evolution of the region? We will seek to address all of these questions.
Academic Year: 2026-2027
Semester(s): Fall
Units: 9
Location(s): Pittsburgh
