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New world order and currency wars

Responding to deglobalisation and decreasing global trade with managed currency regimes might have worked in the past, but not these days

Published Tue, Sep 17, 2019 · 09:50 PM

IN 1944, delegates from 44 countries came together to create a post-war economic order. They created a framework to foster international economic cooperation by encouraging currency exchange stability and promoting global trade.

Asian countries did not enter this post-war order until the second half of the century, perhaps most notably characterised by Deng Xiaoping opening China to the West in 1978. But when these economies came onto the scene, a potent force was unleased into the global economy. Favourable demographics and agrarian-based economies were transformed by industrialisation and mercantilist trade policies, leading to rapid growth for many Asian countries.

Asia was the primary beneficiary of globalisation, especially given the tolerance for one-sided trade practices shown by the major developed countries during that period. With Asia's rise, nearly a billion people in the region were lifted out of poverty.

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