Asian Business

In recent decades Asia has experienced miraculous enrichments that no one had predicted to transpire as rapidly as it has. In “The Miracle: The Epic Story of Asia’s Quest for Wealth” by Michael Schuman, he attempts to identify the catalyst to Asia’s refinement and prominent economic up rise. Throughout the book we are exposed to various influential people with visions and drive that have compelled the ascent of Asian countries conjointly with significant happenings and events. Asia has managed to emerge from centuries of depletion into a rising force of the global economy, thus leading to the reference of a miracle. What lead to this miracle is what Schuman attempts to address.

Throughout Schuman’s telling of Asia’s quest for wealth, he identifies the various men credited with Asia’s growth. It is interpreted that various men held strong visions and paid close attention to details, using this approach to stir the uprising of Asian economies. Schuman shed light upon the contributions of the many men recognized in Asia’s economic climb, such as Akio Morita of Sony, “the Miracle’s single most famous personality” (Schuman, Page 3) the founder of Hyundai, Chung Jy-Yung, former Korean president Park Chung Hee, “one of the most important and dominating figures in Korea’s long history” (Schuman, Page 30) and Azim Premji of India’s Wipro. Each of these men, and many more all possessed a drive for business and dove into opportunities they had deemed beneficial for the development of their business ventures and nation, ultimately contributing to the “miracle” within Asia. Not only did these men propose against all odds projects and approaches, yet they were heavily engaged in the execution of each one, assisting the development and uprising...

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...states “…for all its economic might, Asian remains, overall, so much poorer than the United States that the region will take decades to catch up…if it catches up at all. Asia faces considerable demographic, political, and environmental challenges.”

As far as my opinion on the factors of Asia’s successes, I believe Michael Schuman did an exceptional job interpreting the steps taken along the way to this said miracle. While Kurlantzick presented information on the matter from a rather opposing perspective, pointing out how much further Asia has to come, in my eyes it did not overshadow the facts of how far Asia has actually come. It is evident that numerous figures and events, little or large, have all played crucial roles in Asia’s miracle. No one person or event could have triggered such a drastic up rising; rather a collaboration of influences must be credited.