, Columnist
Asian Values Offer No Special Sauce for Europe
This article is for subscribers only.
The economic misfortunes of Europe and America have inspired glee among some Asian leaders and commentators, especially those who champion “Asian values.” Exhorting Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi to learn from resurgent Asia rather than decrepit Europe, Kishore Mahbubani, the Singaporean diplomat-turned-pundit, pointed out recently how “quiet Asian pragmatism continues to deliver steady economic growth while Europe languishes.”
Recalling how the International Monetary Fund prescribed austerity to East Asia after the financial crisis of 1997, Mahbubani wrote that many Asians feel “the time has come for you [the West] to administer the same bitter medicine you prescribed to us: stop living beyond your means.”