Financial crisis in Southeast Asia: dispelling illusion the Minskyan way

This paper extends Minsky's financial instability hypothesis to the case of the open, ‘liberalised’, economy, making it possible to put forward a specifically Minskyan account of the road to the financial crisis in Southeast Asia (1997/1998). The analysis suggests that the threats to growth and employment emanating from the financial sector which Minsky identified in the closed economy setting are much intensified in open, liberalised, developing economies. Financial liberalisation is an important key factor in this process. Rival explanations of the crisis are examined and rejected in favour of the extended Minskyan explanation. The policy implications are derived and discussed.