Asia Rising:Why America Will Prosper as Asia's Economies Boom [Hardcover]

Jim Rohwer (Author), Jim Rohwer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

In one of the year's most provocative business books, a former Asian correspondent and executive editor of The Economist dissects the ways in which countries such as China, India, South Korea, Indonesia, and Singapore are preparing for fabulous economic growth, and tells how this revolution will be the greatest boon to world prosperity in modern times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By the year 2020, Asia will be home to the largest middle class in history, bringing "the greatest boon to world prosperity in modern times," writes Rohwer, former Asia correspondent for the Economist and current director for CS First Boston's Hong Kong office. Many Americans fear they'll lose jobs to cheap Asian labor. However, Rohwer thinks the Asian middle class will soon emerge and demand quality goods and services, creating thousands of jobs for Americans. The United States, according to Rohwer, is "best positioned to profit from the rise of Asia [especially in] the most advanced industries where America is most competitive," and huge shares of the market are up for grabs. His optimistic and well-reasoned book is recommended for academic economic collections.
Kris Swank, American Graduate Sch. of Intl. Management Lib., Glendale, Ariz.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The author boldly asserts that Shanghai will be "the most sophisticated and open financial market" in the eastern hemisphere by the year 2020. Rohwer is an economist for CS First Boston, based in Hong Kong, and has been the Asian correspondent and executive editor for The Economist. After provoking with his predictions, he provides economic and political analysis to back his claims. Although he considers the whole of Asia, he provides in-depth looks at China and at frequently neglected India. He also sees a huge and thriving middle class growing throughout Asia, and that is the basis for the rosy outlook suggested by his subtitle. Rohwer optimistically argues that Asia should not be seen as a threat to American jobs but rather as a potential market for American-made products. David Rouse

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684807521
• ISBN-13: 978-0684807522
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,167,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best textbook on Asian economics, February 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Asia Rising: Why America Will Prosper as Asia's Economies Boom (Paperback)

Jim Rohwer's Asia Rising is unquestionably the best book to come out and explain the Asian growth that has propelled Asia to the centerstage of the global economy. While some people may now look at the book's title and say, hey, how wrong he has been in his prediction -- they will end up judging the book by the cover, literally. In fact, if one throws away the first 20 pages of his book, his book indeed cautions and seriously warns of the problems in Asia and its potential consequences -- just as it analyses and lauds the power of the Asian growth with journalist's skill for clarity and an economists eye for numerical detail. I read this book twice and still use it as a reference guide in my work as a financial journalist based in Taipei, a country least affected by the Asian crisis. Mr.Rohwer, formerly Asia expert at the economist who now works for Fortune, has also been brilliantly following and writing on Asia in the aftermath of the great Asian implosion. His recent article in Fortune entitled "Why Taiwan may be next to fall" made full sense even if the officials here rejected it with perverse pretention. Indeed, Taiwan has most of the problems that has existed in other Asian countries, but the only thing that saved it from the contagion like China is due to their closed financial systems. But the global deflation and slowdown in trade is now taking a toll on the growth of the export-driven Taiwan. This will continue to pose major problems in 1999. As corporate earnings deteriorate, banks are now seeing their bad loan ratios double just as their spreads are being squeezed by falling interest rates. And banks are making little money now but are asked to set aside massive amount of loan loss provisions. This phenonmenon is now leading to a credit crunch in the banking system which is making it very difficult for companies to get money to cope with this severe economic downturn. The system is now in a dangerous catch-22 situation. As Mr.Rohwer pointed out financial crises do not have to a direct result of a cross-country contagion, but locally-developed ones can be quite as lethal. And this will not come into being when things are good overseas and companies can ride on the export boom, but, to quote Warren Buffet, bare bottoms will surface only when the water level drops in a swimming pool full of naked swimmers. TN

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary & Comprehensive Survey, March 15, 2003

By 

Bibliophile - See all my reviews

This review is from: Asia Rising (Hardcover)

First, a bit of bad news: Rohwer died in a boating accident in France in Sept, 2001. So there won't be a second edition to this or any of his other books.

Rohwer (Berkeley MA in Economics, Harvard JD), who was an investment banker with CSFB in Hong Kong, brought a unique set of qualifications to his research. Some people criticized Rohwer for failing to predict the Asian economic crisis in 1998. (One book has the title: "Asia Falling".) But he did, on page 18: "My guess in that, around 2000, Asia's economic growth will suddenly slow down." This book was first published in 1995, so he saw it coming - even though his timing wasn't perfect. The fact that he made such a prediction, contrary to the tone and theme of his own book, is suggestive. Rohwer was prophetic.

Rohwer's sequel: "Remade in America" is just as good. Writing at the height of America's boom, he saw America's slowdown coming, and went on to suggest continuing strength in China's growth. Nothing has happened so far to contradict anything Rohwer wrote.

Other books I also recommend include "Thunder from the East" by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn. This couple won the Pulitzer Prize for the NY Times for their China reporting, and their CVs are sterling. "The Rise of China" by William Overholt (Harvard BA, Yale PhD), a former banker at Bankers Trust in Hong Kong, is slightly dated, but shows the brilliant judgment of the author. "China's Economic Transformation" by Professor Gregory Chow, Princeton University's former chief of econometrics, brings Chow's specialist quantitative skills to bear on an authoritative analysis of China's economy. All these authors would no doubt support Rohwer's findings and applaud his outstanding research. I myself can't praise Rohwer enough.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not just a book on economics..., October 12, 2000

By 

Michael Pinto "Anime Fan" (NYC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Asia Rising: Why America Will Prosper as Asia's Economies Boom (Paperback)

This book covers Asia from quite a few unexpected angles, including politics, family and culture. The first thing I liked about it is that it's not a book that gives the idea that the rise of Asia is a bad thing for the United States. Mr. Rower doesn't just focus on China, he hits India and quite a few other important spots. In addition he points out weak points in each economy (example: lack of a bond market), so the book gives a well rounded picture.

This book would be great for anyone who just wants to get a better picture of Asia. The only down side is that as it was published in 1995, it has quite a few predictions about what things will be like in five years - shame on the publisher for not doing an updated edition.