Misery beneath the Miracle in East Asia

Misery beneath the Miracle in East Asia challenges prevailing views of the East Asian economic miracle. Existing scholarship has overlooked the severity, persistence, and harmful consequences of the social-welfare crises affecting the region. Arvid J. Lukauskas and Yumiko Shimabukuro fill this gap and put a major asterisk on East Asia's economic record.

Combining big-picture analysis, abundant data, a dynamic interdisciplinary framework, and powerful human stories, they shed light on the social ills that governments have failed to address adequately, including low wages, child abuse, elderly poverty, and substandard housing. One of the major forces behind the multidimensional welfare crises is the region's productivist welfare strategy, which prioritizes economic growth while abandoning a robust social safety net, leaving the most vulnerable segments of society largely unprotected.

Misery beneath the Miracle in East Asia brings the region into debates over the dangers of seeking growth at all costs that are currently embroiling the United States and other advanced industrialized countries.

Arvid J. Lukauskas is the Executive Director of the Program in Economic Policy Management at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Yumiko Shimabukuro is Director of the Urban and Social Policy Concentration for the Executive MPA at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

By looking at all of the major societies of East Asia and identifying common patterns the authors effectively demonstrate that the maladies these countries share stem from the way they provide for the welfare of their citizens.

TJ Pempel, University of California, Berkeley:

There is a great deal to admire in this book. It examines a very important and underexplored issue, namely, the social downsides of the East Asian economic miracle. Its coverage is broad and deep, spanning six countries, each of which receives considerable insightful attention. I know of nothing that would challenge its overall scope and depth.