Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Vidya S. Sharma, Melbourne
The political fortune of Pakistani cricketing superstar-turned-politician Imran Khan is on the rise.
Since he founded his Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or Movement for Justice (MJP), in 1996, Khan has remained a fringe player. Read more…
Author: Doan Hong Quang, World Bank
Consensus-based policy making is a salient feature of Vietnam, where important decisions are collectively made.
Consensus is needed not only for the formulation of a reform vision but also for the elaboration and implementation of this vision. Read more…
Author: Robert Ayson, Victoria University of Wellington
Visitors to New Zealand during the uneventful general election in November 2011, which returned John Key’s National Party to office, would be forgiven for thinking things were running smoothly.
This was helped by the fact that a few weeks earlier, New Zealanders gained the greatest prize they could wish for. This was not a Nobel Prize for their leading scientists; nor a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, which Mr Key’s government wants to secure; nor the competent hosting of the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland, which came and went without much trace. Read more…
Author: Vikas Kumar, Azim Premji University
Recent developments in Myanmar have generated considerable optimism about the country’s long-impending democratisation.
But will democracy foster ethnic reconciliation, essential for Myanmar’s domestic stability? Read more…
Author: Jacqueline Menager, ANU
Contradiction is a mainstay in Burmese life. In downtown Rangoon, a giant new Toshiba TV screen hangs over the street, while rickety cars and taxis from the 1970s whir past below. Crumbling colonial-era buildings are mixed with shiny new Chinese-funded monoliths.
But nowhere is the country’s inherent contradiction more apparent than in the developments of 2011. Primarily, the new parliament’s formation must be juxtaposed against resumed violence in border regions. And we must decide which of the two dynamics to take as the year’s prevailing reality. Read more…
Author: Prajak Kongkirati, ANU
On the surface the general election of 3 July 2011 may look like any other Thai election, but both its timing and context set it apart as historically significant.
Incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called for elections on 11 March 2011, even though his government had until the year’s end to finish its term. Read more…
Author: Somchai Jitsuchon, TDRI
That Pheu Thai (PT) Party won Thailand’s general election was hardly a surprise, even to its principal political opponent, the Democrat Party.
What was surprising was the overwhelming majority it won. Read more…
Author: Shaun Breslin, University of Warwick and RIIA
The idea that there is a coherent and distinct ‘Chinese model’ of political economy has gained attention in recent years — especially as financial crisis elsewhere has undermined confidence in the (neo)liberal models often associated with Western interests and objectives.
To be sure, there are many in China and elsewhere who argue the crisis has actually highlighted key defects in China’s development model.
Author: John Warhurst, ANU
The debate as to whether Australia should become a republic or remain a constitutional monarchy is at a paradoxical stage.
A majority of leading Australians in the private and public sectors support the change from a constitutional monarchy under the British crown to an Australian head of state. But many citizens remain undecided, after rejecting this constitutional change by 55 per cent to 45 per cent at a national referendum in 1999. Read more…
Author: Renu Kohli, ICRIER
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) hands-off exchange rate strategy has resulted in a missed opportunity to curtail inflation.
Intervention in the foreign exchange market would have helped counter inflation; but the RBI has failed to grasp such a dexterous policy tool. Read more…
Author: Yao Yang, Peking University
International observers frequently link China’s economic success to authoritarianism.
And when it comes to the comparison between China and Western countries, the issue is often framed by the contrast between the Beijing Consensus on the role of government intervention and the Washington Consensus on the role of the free market. Read more…
Author: Christopher Findlay, University of Adelaide
The way ahead in the European debt crisis appears to lie in refinancing the debt held by those countries whose sovereign bond spreads are widening and who are at risk of default: but who will pay?
Author: Sun Xuegong, NDRC
Integration in the regional and global economies is an important aspect of China’s rapid rise.
China’s interests now lie well beyond its border and extend around the globe. This reality has prompted China to actively engage in regional and global architecture to assure that its rise continues peacefully. Read more…
Author: Peter Drysdale, ANU
Whatever is done to re-position Asian regional architecture, it needs to take account of Asia’s new role in global economic governance.
It needs to attend to the implications of Asia’s rise for political and security affairs. Read more…
Authors: Maria Monica Wihardja and Josef Kristiadi, CSIS, Jakarta
The Indonesian cabinet reshuffle of 18 October has ended in an anti-climax.
The Indonesian people — and even their ministers — were hoping for a more effective cabinet to support Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration: they were instead left shocked and clueless about the criteria on which he based his decisions. Read more…