|
Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia | 
| Author: Joe Studwell
Publisher: Grove Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $7.74
You Save: $7.26 (48%)
New (27) Used (8) from $5.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 92610
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0802143911
Dewey Decimal Number: 337
EAN: 9780802143914
ASIN: 0802143911
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Why buy used when BRAND NEW IS THIS LOW! Expedited orders ship on or before next business day! Mailer packaging recycled materials for a cleaner, greener world.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Deromanticizing can go too far August 28, 2008
The word Mr. Studwell adopts for his title, "godfathers," has of course acquired its relevant connotations from a classic novel by Mario Puzo and the subsequent motion-picture trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Messrs. Puzo and Coppola were self consciously creating a myth, romanticizing the ugly reality of mob violence. Mr. Studwell thinks of himself as the debunker of a myth, and he employs the Puzo-Coppola language to reverse its effect.
The myth about Southeast Asia is a matter of Sinocentric cultural determinism. Chinese ethnic groups have scattered about the region and wherever they have gone--so runs a common contention--they have brought with them a Confucian ethos, a dedication to hard work and entrepreneurialism, which has sparked growth and turned the beneficiary nations into "tigers" of productivity.
Those whom Mr. Studwell calls Asia's "godfathers"--the Chearavanont family in Thailand and the Hartonos family of Indonesia are two examples--have taken advantage of this myth to legitimize their own wealth and privilege. He associates them with the Corleones of Sicily and New York, then, in an effort at deflation.
The class at issue isn't, furthermore, as thoroughly Chinese as it portrays itself or as its outside admirers imagine. A few, such as the two families just mentioned, surely are. Many others are partially ethnic Chinese, and in such cases "the non-Chinese bloodline is sometimes seen as a source of embarrassment and played down, particularly in a Chinese setting." Still others aren't Chinese at all. Ananda Krishnan, of Malaysia, surely belongs in any list of the region's godfathers, though he's a Sri Lankan Tamil.
In general, Mr. Studwell contends that the godfather class throughout the region has been a retardant to growth, not the accelerant that its quite successfully promulgated self-image would have one believe. Southeast Asia hasn't shared the successes of Northeast Asia--Japan, South Korea and Taiwan--for three reasons. The northeastern countries have a successful history of land reform behind them. They have seen the development and political encouragement of branded businesses (not merely outsourcing operations for western brands) that compete globally. They've learned the tricky politics of stable multi-party competition. That is the direction forward for their southern brethren.
I learned a good deal from this book. Still, I think that Studwell rather overdoes it, and allows deromanticization to spill over into distortion. I suspect that Confucian values do have something to do with developments in the region, just as Calvinism has had a good deal to do with economic developments in the north of Europe for the last few centuries.
 Great Summary of Southeast Asian Politics and Business January 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a student with an MA in Southeast Asian Studies, I can attest that this book does a great job summarizing the economic and political landscape of Southeast Asia. The book focuses on the role of the region's elite businessmen and how they take advantage of corruption, weak anti-monopoly laws, and political connections to build their empires. These elites dominate the domestic sectors of the economy, so they generally do not compete with multinational firms in the export sector.
Unlike other books I have read on Southeast Asia, this one not only provides examples but identifies larger trends and patterns that are useful in understanding the problems Southeast Asia currently faces. There is a lot of information, and it can be a pretty dense read for readers not already attuned to the region, but it's definitely worth it, even if just to get an idea of how politics and business really don't mix well in the region.
Not what Expected December 20, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book was well written and obviously well researched, but I guess I was looking for more of an action packed, backstabbing account 'Mafia Style.'
Very informative nonetheless.
bottom-up overview of SE Asian economies December 19, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book makes a very interesting read and offers a different approach to understanding the economy of a region: the author looks at these economies mainly through the business sector and avoids overloading the book with graphs, charts, tables, etc. It is an interesting story (although heavily studded with Chinese names). This may result in an incomplete picture, and the book is not quite academic, but this does not avoid it providing a relatively objective look on an important sector of this region's economy.
Studwell is very critical of the corporate sector of the SE Asian countries, including those of Hong Kong and Singapore. He traces the origins of the mostly ethnic Chinese businessmen and their companies from the colonial days to the present. He dismisses any notion of "Asian values" as the foundation for the success of these businesses and their owners, but rather attributes their rise to license-peddling, concessions, monopolistic practises, lots of graft, etc. One is reminded of Balzac's words: "every great fortune, of onknown origin, is usually the result of a crime". His comments on the banking sector are particulary scathing. The author explains that these businessmen are not the cause of this situation, but have merely adapted to a region-wide system of patronage and corruption held in place by the local politicos for hundreds of years to the present (much of it inherited from their colonial masters). The business leaders have saving graces: personally charming, they lead flamboyant lives and they obviously do contribute to their local economies (through employment and investment).
In spite of this, and the crisis of 1997-98 the SE Asian economies have sustained high levels of growth over the past two decades, which Studwell attributes mostly to multinationals, and the export prowess of small local firms, plus the hard-work of the average Asian.
The author's critique goes beyond mere anecdotes and history , as he affirms that the SE Asian corporate sector does not have the efficiency and productivity of the typical world-class company. The origins of these businesses leads to a focus on trading and short-term wheeling-dealing, without a clear strategy, technological strength and branded products. The companies are very much tied to the personality and/or the family of the main owners. Worst of all, they are lacking in transparency, corporate governance and their stock market practises are less than ethical.
Studwell's observations seem vindicated by the markets: since the 1994-97 peak the stock markets of these countries have not fully recovered, and the Hong Kong and Singapore indices are barely above their levels of 10 years ago.
As SE Asia acquires more economic stability it is logical to assume that per-capita income will rise and lead to stronger domestic economies, with less dependence on export-led growth. In this context Studwell is correct in insisting the the corporate sector of these countries clean up their act and become serious and sustainable contributors to their economies.
 SE Asia Explained November 16, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Solid reporting with a sense of history about many of the people behind Asia's economies. Good background of why and how but the "who" is what is compelling. Had hoped for even more gossip, but lawyers must have counseled care. But there is more than enough to be worth reading if you are involved in Asia or even just interested.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
