The Asian Dream Is Waking Up to Reality
The middle class is starting to struggle after decades of growth, but the momentum is still behind rising aspirations.
The Bangkok middle class is a key to Thailand’s success.
Photographer: Sirachai Arunrugstichai/BloombergHow quickly is Asia’s middle class growing? Not as fast as it needs to keep pace with aspirations. Policymakers need to focus on boosting livelihoods — but also on improving the quality of lives — for citizens to achieve the “Asian Dream.” Until that happens, it will be more myth than reality.
There is no concrete definition of what such a dream with Asian characteristics means, but inspiration could come from the American Dream, a term coined by writer James Truslow Adams in 1931, when he wrote that it “is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”