Eeast Asia Through a Glass Darkly: Disparate Lenses on the Road to Damascus

East Asia Through a Glass Darkly: Disparate Lenses on the Road to Damascus" This paper asks whether the Asian Crisis was a failure of Asian capitalism, or a failure of market capitalism. It begins with a stylized chronology of events that is broadly consistent with either hypothesis. It then re-tells the story, first through an "Asian failure" lens, and next through a "market failure" lens. The paper concludes by reporting what theoretical and policy consensus has so far emerged within the economics profession, as well as the quandaries that remain.