Asian Economic Development and Integration

The course will examine a range of development challenges that the region has faced, and the response made by various economies. It will draw on diverse country, sub-regional, and regional experiences to identify policies that seem to have contributed most significantly to growth and development, examine why they “worked,” and how they might be applied in other developing economies. It will consider current policy debates on a host of “hot” topics including poverty and social security, macroeconomic fiscal and monetary policies, infrastructure, the role of small medium enterprises (SMEs), financial sector development, industrial development, food security, and education. At the end of the course, students should understand the key drivers of Asian economic growth, development and integration in the past 50 years and be familiar with a range of development issues likely to influence future policy options in the region.