Asian tigers, Russia bear and international vets? An excursion in the 1997-98 financial crises

The article sets out a controversial task of looking at the Russian and East Asian episodes of the 1997-98 international financial upheaval. It argues that despite the palpable differences in the economic structures of the two regions, the similarity in the circumstances and aftermaths of the crashes requires a re-conceptualisation of the role of financial capital in framing dependent development patterns in global capitalism. The paper looks at the following issues. First, it discusses the role of domestic monetary policies, external financial openness and export-oriented development strategies in contributing to the crises. Second, the analysis discloses the nature and role of financial indebtedness in the two cases, pointing to the fundamental problem of the finance-real economy disjuncture that had been at the centre of the two crises. Third, the paper reveals the importance and similarity of national politico-economic structures, their links to the world ruling elites in shaping the countries' models of dependent capitalism. The article argues that through a complex multi-level fusion, these factors render current plans to eliminate world inequality and restore world financial stability, largely futile.