WHY ISNT THE WHOLE WORLD EXPERIMENTING WITH THE EAST-ASIAN MODEL TO DEVELOP - REVIEW OF THE EAST-ASIAN MIRACLE

Like Narcissus, the World Bank sees its own reflection in East Asia's success. It attributes the East Asian miracle to macroeconomic basics - high saving and investment rates, expenditures on education, and exports - but in reality, these are anchored in micro-institutions that exhibit pervasive state intervention. East Asia created competitiveness by subsidizing learning, whereas Bank policy emphasizes methods that effectively cut real wages. The Report is rich in empirical data, but they do not support the Bank's dismissal of industrial policy as ''ineffective,'' and they are presented in a way that makes it difficult for students to corroborate Bank findings. The greatest disappointment of the Report's market fundamentalism is a failure to study seriously how elements of the East Asian model can be adapted to suit conditions in other countries.