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The Western world believes that capitalism
has won, that our model of individual enterprise and rights
has triumphed. But in East Asia a new system has emerged
that challenges the economic principles the West extols.
In fact, as James Fallows vividly demonstrates, the theories
we embrace to explain how nations rise and fall have prevented
us from seeing the true nature of this new system and its
enormous impact on us.
Skillfully blending history with on-the-ground
reportage and astute analysis, Fallows reveals how political
goals and historical experience have shaped Japan's economic
rise and placed it at the heart of the Asian system. He
shows how the explosive growth of Thailand, Malaysia, and
Singapore has been fueled by Japanese investment; why Burma,
the Philippines, and Vietnam have been largely isolated
from the region's progress; and why Korea, Taiwan, and "Greater
China" are the strongest contenders for future economic
dominance.
Extraordinary in depth and scope, Looking
At the Sun provides the first clear picture of the Asian
rise and the magnitude of its challenges to the Western
world.
James Fallows is the Washington Editor
of The Atlantic Monthly and a weekly commentator
for National Public Radio. With his wife and children, he
lived in Asia for four years. His first book, National
Defense, won the National Book Award in 1981.
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