Joe Studwell

A freelance journalist in Asia and founding editor of China Economic Quarterly presents a detailed analysis of why the economies of some Asian countries have flourished while others have declined. 20,000 first printing.

Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region

How Asia Works

The economies of Hong Kong and south-east Asia are dominated by only forty or fifty families. Their interests range from banking to property, from shipping to sugar, from gambling to lumber. At their peak, eight of the world's two dozen richest families were south-east Asian, yet they are largely unknown outside the region. A complex mythology surrounds them, one which informs Asian views on culture, entrepreneurialism and economics. In this explosive account, Joe Studwell finds that the facts are even more remarkable than the myths, as he lifts the lid on a world of hypocrisy, power and enormous wealth. Through the hidden lives of some mysterious and fascinating men, Studwell explores the broader economic and political issues facing a region of 500 million people: how the Asian tycoons took such a strong hold over their local economies, how they survived the Asian financial crisis that began in 1997, and what their endurance teaches us about the real state of the countries they live in.

Money and Power in Hong Kong and South-east Asia

Asian Godfathers

The leaders of one of the world's most important and tumultuous markets are revealed in an insightful examination of how they got to the top, how they keep themselves there, and the political and economic environments in which they operate.

Money and Power in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia

40 or 50 families control the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Their interests range from banking to property, from shipping to sugar, from vice to gambling. 13 of the 50 richest families in the world are in South East Asia yet they are largely unknown outside confined business circles. Often this is because they control the press and television as well as everything else. How do they do it? What are their secrets? And is it good news or bad for the places where they operate? Joe Studwell explosively lifts the lid on a world of staggering secrecy and shows that the little most people know is almost entirely wrong.

Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are home to five hundred million people, yet their economies are dominated by only fifty families whose interests range from banking to real estate, shipping to sugar, gambling to lumber. At their peak, eight of the world’s two dozen richest men were Southeast Asian, but their names would not be familiar to most regular readers of The Wall Street Journal. A complex mythology surrounds these billionaires, but in Asian Godfathers, Joe Studwell finds that the facts are even more remarkable than the myths. Studwell has spent fifteen years as a reporter in the region, and he marshals his unprecedented sources to paint intimate and revealing portraits of the men who control Southeast Asia. Studwell also provides us with a rich and deep understanding of the broader historic, economic, and political influences that have shaped Southeast Asia over the past 150 years. Asian Godfathers is a riveting and illuminating book that lifts the curtain on a world of staggering secrecy and hypocrisy, and reveals—for the first time—who the leaders of one of the planet’s most important and tumultuous markets really are, why they got to the top, and how they keep themselves there.

“An entertaining, if cautionary, tale of Western business woes in China, stretching back seven hundred years” (The Wall Street Journal). In The China Dream, acclaimed business journalist Joe Studwell challenges the predictions that China will become an economic juggernaut on the world stage in the twenty-first century—and instead foresees an economic crisis. Tracing the most recent developments in China from Deng Xiaoping’s “liberalization” of its market in the 1980s through the opening of its economy to foreign investment in the 1990s, Studwell examines the roadblocks to the continuation of the country’s unprecedented expansion and why its economy will fail once more—but this time, harder than ever before, and with potentially catastrophic results. Provocative and flawlessly researched, The China Dream analyzes what’s really going on in China—and what we can do to prepare for the coming crisis. “The much-needed antidote to the delusions . . . about the riches to be made from investing and selling in China. Brimming with . . . statistics.” —The Washington Post “[A] detailed account . . . An excellent examination of the political and economic history of China, fascinating and mostly unknown to Westerners.” —Booklist (starred review) “Lays bare much of the stuff and nonsense that surrounds the China dream, and traces how myth and misunderstandings—compounded by hype and lashings of snake oil—have bewitched some of the world’s most respected corporations and led them to ruin the proverbial $1.3 billion consumer market . . . As such, it deserves to help redefine the debate on the nature of the China market.” —James Kynge, China bureau chief of the Financial Times

Joe Studwell

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