Postwar development in the Asian NICs: Does the neoliberal model fit reality?

Neoliberal explanations of development in the Asian newly industrializing countries (NICs) typically overlook a number of key factors, including the activist role of the state, the emphasis on inward-oriented as well as outward-oriented development, and the unusual advantages offered by particular geographic and historical conditions. Rather than conforming to the neoliberal model of free trade and laissez-faire, the Asian NICs more closely resemble guided market economies in which an activist state has pursued policies of economic nationalism and classical Listian mercantilism. This raises doubts not only about the neoliberal depiction of NIC development, but also about the appropriateness and transferability of the neoliberal model of NIC development for other Third World countries.