This book consists of 20 short essays on different dimensions of international economic policy with specific (though not exclusive) focus on Asia. Topics covered include: exchange rate regimes and reserve buildup in Asia; global macroeconomic imbalances; financial sector liberalization; international capital flows to and from Asia; infrastructure financing in Asia; foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, production networks, manufacturing and outsourcing in Asia; the economic rise of China and India; and trade, financial and monetary regionalism in Asia. While the book covers important and often technical economic issues of contemporary policy relevance, it is written in a manner that is easily accessible to non-economists, including students of public policy, international affairs, international commerce and business, as well as policy-makers and interested observers.

Contents:

• Monetary and Exchange Rates Issues: Asia's Embarrassment of Riches: A Story of Prudence, Global Imbalances, and Some Good Old Fashioned Mercantilism;
• The Known Unknown: The Whopping US Current Account Deficit and Its Implications (With Surabhi Jain);
• Will the US Dollar Remain Top Dog ?: The Billion Dollar Question (With Jose Kiran);
• A Central Banker's Holy Grail: Inflation-Targeting Frameworks with Reference to Asia (With Tony Cavoli);
• Singapore s Currency Baskets and the Mantra of Competitiveness: The Importance of Real Exchange Rates;
• Financial Liberalization, Financial Crises and the Financing of Development: Barbarians at the Gates: Foreign Bank Entry in Asia;
• The Tobin Tax: A Panacea for Financial Crises?; International Capital Flows to Asia: The Never-ending Magic Spigot?;
• Using Reserves to Finance Infrastructure in India: Will it Clear the Gridlock?;
• The Goldmine of Development Finance: Reassessing the Importance of Migrants Remittances;
• Trade, Investment and the Rise of China and India: The Do s and Don ts of Attracting Foreign Direct Investment;
• Chips from East Asia, Hardware from Southeast Asia, and Assembled in China: Production Sharing and Trade in Asia; All Paths Lead to India: Do Other Asian Countries Pose a Challenge to Its Dominance in Services Outsourcing? (With Sadhana Srivastava);
• The Rise of the Indian Manufacturing Sector: A True Underdog Story;
• Will the Big Tiger Leave Any Crumbs for the Little Dragons? China vs Southeast Asia;
• Economic Regionalism in Asia: Embracing One s Neighbour: Redefining the Importance of India to ASEAN;
• Going It Alone: Singapore s Trade Strategy (With Rahul Sen);
• ASEAN Economic Integration: Taking Care of Business;
• Uncooperative Cooperation: The Saga of Economic Cooperation in South Asia; Monetary and Financial Cooperation in Asia: More than Just Buzzwords?.