I guess some will now criticize my disinclination to write
Asia off. I regard what has happened in Asia, despite the recent set-backs, as on the whole exciting, unique, and good for the region andthe world. It has not been a miracle. It can be explained--above all, as an example of the benefactions of free trade and technological ad-
vance. It cannot be attributed to some continent-based value system
"Asian values "has been a shorthand for the justification of authoritarianism, bossiness, and closed collusion rather than open accountability
in economic management. Values are universal. So, too, is the case formarket economics, which works everywhere better than any other eco-nomic system, and free and open economies perform most effectivelyin plural societies.