Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Section 1: Monetary and Exchange Rates Issues -- 1. Asia's Embarrassment of Riches: A Story of Prudence, Global Imbalances, and Some Good Old Fashioned Mercantilism -- Introduction -- Prudence Motive for Reasons Reserve Build-Up - The Limits -- Mercantilism or Low Domestic Demand? -- In Search of Higher Yields -- Costs of Monetary Sterilization -- Conclusion -- 2. The Known Unknown: The Whopping US Current Account Deficit and Its Implications (With Surabhi Jain) -- Introduction -- Evolution of the US CAD and the US Dollar -- Dynamics of Capital Flows to the United States -- Conclusion -- 3. Will the US Dollar Remain "Top Dog"?: The Billion Dollar Question (With Jose Kiran) -- Introduction -- Rise of the US Dollar Standard -- The Coming End of the USD Hegemony? -- Possible Rivals to the US Dollar Standard -- Conclusion -- 4. A Central Banker's Holy Grail: Inflation-Targeting Frameworks with Reference to Asia (With Tony Cavoli ) -- Introduction -- What is an Inflation-Targeting Arrangement? -- The Role of Exchange Rates Under Inflation Targeting -- Strict versus Flexible Targeting -- Conclusion -- 5. Singapore's Currency Baskets and the Mantra of Competitiveness: The Importance of Real Exchange Rates -- Introduction -- Competitiveness Indices -- Real Exchange Rates and Currency Basket Regimes -- A Study of Policy Discretion in Singapore -- Conclusion -- Section 2: Financial Liberalization, Financial Crises and the Financing of Development -- 6. Barbarians at the Gates: Foreign Bank Entry in Asia -- Introduction -- Economic Motivations Behind Foreign Bank Entry -- The Fear Behind Foreign Bank Entry -- Conclusion: Timing and Pace of Foreign Bank Entry -- 7. The Tobin Tax: A Panacea for Financial Crises? -- Introduction -- Open Capital Accounts, Financial Crises and Safeguards -- The Tobin Tax Reconsidered12.

Conclusion -- 8. International Capital Flows to Asia: The Never-Ending Magic Spigot? -- Introduction -- Current Account Balances and Reserve Accumulation Since the Crisis -- Capital Flows and International Financial Intermediation -- Conclusion: The Yen-Carry Trade -- 9. Using Reserves to Finance Infrastructure in India: Will It Clear the Gridlock? -- Introduction -- The Importance of Infrastructure in India -- Using Foreign Reserves to Finance Infrastructure -- Problems with the Reserves-Funded SPV Approach -- Macroeconomic Consequences of Using Reserves to Finance Infrastructure -- Conclusion -- 10. The Goldmine of Development Finance: Reassessing the Importance of Migrants' Remittances -- Introduction -- Significance of Migrants' Remittances -- Economic Effects of Remittances -- Conclusion -- Section 3: Trade, Investment and the Rise of China and India -- 11. The "Do's and Don'ts" of Attracting Foreign Direct Investment. -- Introduction -- Investment Promotion and Government Intervention Policies -- Fiscal and Financial Incentives -- Conclusion -- 12. Chips from East Asia, Hardware from Southeast Asia, and Assembled in China: Production Sharing and Trade in Asia -- Introduction -- The Importance and Implications of Production Sharing -- Conclusion: Production Fragmentation and Regional Trade Arrangements (RTAs) -- 13. All Paths Lead to India: Do Other Asian Countries Pose a Challenge to Its Dominance in Services Outsourcing? (With Sadhana Srivastava) -- Introduction -- Extent and Types of Outsourcing -- Economic Benefits of Outsourcing -- Conclusion: Can Asian Countries Challenge India's Dominance? -- 14. The Rise of the Indian Manufacturing Sector: A True Underdog Story -- Introduction -- Indian Companies Going Global -- Selected Manufacturing Industries in India -- Automobiles and Auto Components -- Mobile Telephony -- Textile Industry.

Pharmaceuticals -- Impediments for Manufacturing in India -- Going Forward: Overcoming Obstacles -- 15. Will the Big Tiger Leave Any Crumbs for the Little Dragons? China vs. Southeast Asia -- Introduction -- China's Impact on Southeast Asia's Exports -- China's Impact on Southeast Asia's Investment Prospects -- Conclusion: The ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) -- Section 4: Economic Regionalism in Asia -- 16. Embracing One's Neighbor: Redefining the Importance of India to ASEAN -- Introduction -- India-ASEAN Relationship -- Conclusion -- 17. Going It Alone: Singapore's Trade Strategy (With Rahul Sen) -- Introduction -- A Going-It-Alone Trading Strategy for Singapore -- Singapore's Economic Partnerships with China and India -- Bilateral Trade Agreements -- Conclusion: Areas of Concern with Trade Agreements12 -- 18. ASEAN Economic Integration: Taking Care of Business -- Introduction -- A Brief History of ASEAN Economic Integration -- Limited de facto Integration -- ASEAN Competitiveness as seen by McKinsey -- Conclusion: Multi-Speed Approach within ASEAN -- 19. Uncooperative Cooperation: The Saga of Economic Cooperation in South Asia -- Introduction -- Trade Agreements in South Asia -- Limited de facto Integration in South Asia -- Conclusion: SAARC and the Role of India -- 20. Monetary and Financial Cooperation in Asia: More than Just Buzzwords? -- Introduction -- Monetary Regionalism in Asia: Chiang-Mai Initiative (CMI) -- Financial Regionalism in Asia: Asia Bond Fund (ABF) -- Conclusion: The Asian Currency Unit (ACU) -- Index.