Michael Eisenscher forwarded a column
>Study Considers Worst Case If Asia
>Collapses
>
>By Clay Chandler
>Washington Post Staff Writer
>Saturday, August 1, 1998; Page C01
>
>Call it the Asian Armageddon scenario:
>
>Instead of getting better, Asia's economic crisis just gets
>worse -- lots worse. Policy goofs in Tokyo trigger a run on
>Japanese markets. Several big Japanese banks go bust.
>The yen nose dives, China chops the value of its currency
>and other currencies in Asia plunge anew. And as what
>once was the most economically vibrant region in the world
>lurches into depression, a cash-strapped International
>Monetary Fund can do little more than watch.
>
>If that nightmare were to become reality, how much would
>the rest of the industrialized world suffer?
>
Rudie Dornbusch, Professor of economics at MIT had an OP ED
in the Wall Street Journal on July 30th, titled "Growth Forever."
The pull-quote is" "We have the monetary and fiscal resources to
keep the economy going, as well as a policy team that won't hesitate to use
the for continued expansion."
So don't worry about the IMF being strapped for cash.
Don't worry about anything. Is this a reprise of the economists in
1929?
No, this time will be different.
Gene Coyle
