Can 'Asian values' help Asian economies out of crux?
Can 'Asian values' help Asian economies out of crux?
By Muhadi Sugiono
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Asian economic crisis has once again
brought the debate over "Asian values" to the fore.
Previously, as Asian countries enjoyed high levels of economic
growth, many believed that the Asian economic "miracle" was
attributable to a set of values claimed to be specific to Asia.
Proponents said Asian values encompassed a wide range of
characteristics from hard work and savings to a spirit of
collectivism seen through consensus, harmony, cooperation and
respect to authority.
Now that Asian economies are suffering from the current
economic crisis, critics of Asian values are very clearly blaming
these values for being at the heart of the crisis. They insist
that the crisis is specific to Asia in the sense that the roots
and the causes of it lie at home more than abroad. Unsound
macroeconomic and fiscal policies, poorly supervised banking
systems, a lack of transparency in policy making processes,
cronyism, corruption, and even an absence of democracy are
factors believed to be responsible for the crisis.
For such critics, all these problems are associated wholly or
partially with Asian values. In short, Asian values are now being
seen in negative terms. Instead of explaining the rise of Asia,
Asian values are viewed as having misled Asian countries into the
disastrous economic crisis.
Arguably, the points forwarded by the critics of Asian values
constitute a modification of their arguments from conventional
Asian values debates. Critics who have pinned the crisis on
various factors rooted in Asian values are the same who argued
for a universalistic explanation of the Asian economic miracle --
saying there was no miracle in the Asian economies. They argued
that the very success of the Asian economic development was a
general phenomenon and that Asian values played no role in this
success whatsoever. By associating the crisis with Asian values,
these critics are arguing that not only did Asian values not
contribute to the Asian economic miracle but, more importantly,
they have proven disastrous.
Arguing that the crisis is specific to Asia and, hence,
attributing it to Asian values is very problematic.
Overemphasizing the role of Asian values in the crisis
oversimplifies the issue. While the proponents of Asian values
have been charged with oversimplifying the complexity of the
causes of Asian miracle, the critics can also be charged for
their oversimplification in explaining the causes of the crisis.
By focusing on Asian values, the critics simply leave some
important questions related to the crisis unexplained, such as
why the crisis occurred and why it came about now.
In this context, it is interesting to note that international
financial institutions such as the World Bank and the
International Monetary Found (IMF) did not see the crisis coming
even a few months before the it began. In fact, instead of
warning of crisis, the two institutions kept assuring Asian
countries that their economies were performing well and were
going in the right direction. It was only after the crisis hit
that the IMF came to the conclusion that Asian countries must
reform their economies. All of this constitutes a clear
indication of the complexity of the causes of the Asian economic
crisis.
In addition, it is also interesting to note that Paul Krugman,
one of the most rigorous critics of Asian values, frankly
admitted that even though he viewed the role of Asian values in
economic development negatively, he had never predicted such a
crisis to happen. What he predicted, instead, was a slowdown in
economic growth over the long term.
Empirically, the arguments that Asian values are responsible
for the current economic crisis are at best unsupportable. Within
the framework of these arguments, Singapore, one of the most
vocal proponents of Asian values, should have been the first to
suffer from the crisis, while the Philippines and, to a lesser
degree, South Korea and Thailand should have been the last to
suffer since they are deemed to be lesser proponents of Asian
values. Not only is Singapore relatively unaffected by the crisis
but the Philippines became one of the first countries to suffer
from the it. This means that there is simply no clear-cut
relation between democracy and economic performance, as many
studies have confirmed.
Apart from this, the association of the Asian economic crisis
with Asian values has far more serious implications. Clearly, it
constitutes negative stereotyping since it implies that Asian
values simply have few or no virtues. Asian values are seen as
being totally disastrous, doing more harm than good to the
development of Asian economies. In arguing that Asian values
offer no solutions for Asian countries to get rid of the current
crisis, what the critics present instead is a very pessimistic
picture of the prospect of Asian economies. Put simply, they
believe Asian economies are beyond help.
It can be argued, however, that in the current situation a
negative stereotyping of Asian values creates more problems than
offering a constructive solution to the crisis. Rather than
promoting international cooperation to combat the crisis as a
common problem of the world, it tends to perpetuate mutual
resentment between the proponents and the opponents of Asian
values.
Unfortunately, this is what Asian value debates are all about
-- they are intended more to accumulate mutual hatred than to
build a mutual understanding among different societies.
Such stereotyping, no doubt, underestimates positive aspects
of Asian values which could be quite helpful in the struggle to
get out of the crisis. In saying this, I do not mean to present
myself as a blind adherent of Asian values. I am no proponent of
Asian values. In fact, I believe that in many Asian countries,
the notion of Asian values has been used and abused for the
interest of incumbent governments. Still, it is my contention
that Asian values are not without merit. They can positively
contribute to the solution of the current economic crisis in
Asia.
The propensity to put collective interests over those of
individuals and to respect authority, to mention but two, are
Asian qualities which could be very helpful in overcoming the
crisis. The contributions made by South Korean and Thai people to
solve their economic problems by voluntarily donating gold is a
case in point. Although the effectiveness of such a collective
action remains to be seen, it quite clearly indicates a positive
attitude by those people toward overcoming the crisis. At the
very least, they have displayed their willingness to work hand in
hand with their governments to fight the crisis. This positive
attitude seems to be paying off since both countries are making
gains in their efforts to turn their economies around.
It is important to note that the qualities South Korean and
Thai people have displayed should not be taken for granted. These
actions were not imposed by their governments. For such actions
to take place, people have to be confident that their government
is doing the right thing and that it is taking such actions for
the interest of the people. Otherwise, all government appeals for
people to think beyond their individual interests are bound to
fail.
To conclude, this article is intended to challenge the
tendency to overemphasize the role of Asian values in the Asia
economic crisis. Not only does such an overemphasis fail to take
into account the complexity of the crisis' causes, but it also
underestimates many aspects of Asian values, which might
positively contribute to the solution of the crisis. At the same
time, this article is not arguing that Asian values have always
benefited the countries in the region. The fact that Asian values
have been abused and manipulated to serve the interests of those
in power is a case in point. But Asian values cannot be viewed as
being only harmful to the people of Asia.
The writer is a lecturer at the department of international
relations in the school of social and political science at Gadjah
Mada University, Yogyakarta.