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The Many Faces of Privatization in Asia
| Article
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14144 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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Date : |
1 / 1988 |
3,812 Words |
| Author
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John Tepper Marlin
John Tepper Marlin is editor of the Privatization Report,
published in New York City by the National Civic League. He
has made two Asian study tours focusing on privatization. |
The remarkable range of Asian experience offers important lessons for other countries on the value and dangers of privatization--and differences among the economic systems in Asian countries.
The lessons are important for the United States and Canada as these two countries try to emulate the British experience by developing strategic approaches to privatization--in the United States through a presidential commission and campaign by the Office of Management and Budget, and in Canada through a cabinet-level minister.
Understanding the Asian experience in this arena will also prove valuable to investors who have learned from the painful aftermath of Black Monday (on the New York Stock Exchange) about the relevance to them of overnight developments in Asian capital markets.
The following review of privatization in some Asian countries is selective, focusing on the lessons to be learned.
Japan
Privatization in Japan dwarfs in economic significance anything happening elsewhere in Asia. The privatization--deregulation--of Japanese finance is having worldwide implications. The largest four banks in the world today (the so-called Big Four) are Japanese. The head of U.S. operations of the world's largest bank, Dai-Ichi Kangyo, when asked the bank's total assets, responded: "$240 billion. No, I am wrong. The dollar was down today. It is $250 billion." Of this quarter-trillion, 10 percent is at the disposal of the U.S. branch; this $24 billion or so would make
... (1999 of 23833 Characters)
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