New Global Economic Architecture: The Asian Perspective

The traumatic experiences of the first half of the 20th century helped shape the postwar global architecture, which saw the creation of the IMF, the GATT, and the World Bank. Today, this economic architecture is ill-fitted to the global economy. The balance of financial power has moved towards the emerging economies, especially those in Asia, a shift which is not sufficiently reflected in the governance of these institutions.

New Global Economic Architecture addresses how a regional architecture, particularly in Asia, can induce a supply of regional public goods that strengthens the global public goods supplied through the global architecture, to promote sustainable economic development. The global network is moving towards a decentralized system with global, regional, and national institutions, and the book presents a comparison of the pace of reforms in various institutions and the identification of the reform agenda from an Asian perspective.

'The spectacular rise in Asian economies has reshuffled the distribution of world economic power, while the Global Financial Crisis brought it to the fore. The global economic and financial architecture, inherited from World War II, has not responded to such changes. Focusing mainly on financial and partly on trade issues, this book provides a welcome perspective from seasoned Asia experts on the prospective benefits of a new, more decentralized and regionalized architecture. It will be a timely read, coinciding with the launching of the BRICS' Development Bank.'
—Eric Girardin, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France; former member of the Asian Development Bank Institute Advisory Council

"The New Global Architecture addresses an important set of questions: what institutions govern the international economy; how have they evolved; and in what ways do they need to be reformed?"
"...the arguments are cogently made, and the overall impact is thought provoking." 
"Many minor quibbles with authors' assumptions, interpretations and conclusions, left me with the feeling of having had stimulating conversations with intelligent people on important issues. What more could a reader want?"
- Richard Pomfret, University of Adelaide, Asia-Paciifc Economic Literature vol 29, No. 1, 2015

Co-published with Edward Elgar. For orders, please contact Edward Elgar Publishing.