Managing the Noodle Bowl: The Fragility of East Asian Regionalism
Baldwin, Richard E. | February 2007
Abstract
The paper argues that East Asian regionalism is fragile because (i) each nation’s industrial competitiveness depends on the smooth functioning of “Factory Asia”—in particular for intraregional trade; (ii) the unilateral tariffcutting that created Factory Asia is not subject to WTO discipline (bindings); (iii) there is no “top-level management” to substitute for WTO discipline, to ensure that bilateral trade tensions—tensions that are inevitable in East Asia—do not spill over into region-wide problems due to lack of cooperation and communication. This paper argues that the window of opportunity for East Asian vision was missed; what East Asia needs now is management, not vision. East Asia should launch a “New East Asian Regional Management Effort” with a reinforced ASEAN+3 leading the way. The first priority
Citation
Baldwin, Richard E.. 2007. Managing the Noodle Bowl: The Fragility of East Asian Regionalism. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/1848. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.Keywords
Trade Facilitation
Trade
Economic integration
Regional Economic Integration
Free Trade
Trade Agreements
Trade Policy
Economic Development
Economics
International Economics
Economic planning
Economic structure
Growth policy
Trade relations
Trade policy
Trade policy
Economic development
Regional economics
Economic forecasting
Economic development projects
Success in business
Business
Free trade
Business
Economics
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