Abstract
Ten years ago the countries of Southeast Asia were being hailed, together with the 'newly industrialising countries' (NICs) of Asia and Latin America, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico, as the shining lights of the international economy. All were maintaining high rates of growth, and industrial deepening was taking place. According to a number of theorists, and especially those associated with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMP), they were showing the way forward for the less-developed nations-industrialisation was possible, and a new generation of industrial nations was in the making (Garnaut, ed., 1980; Kreuger, 1982).