The country is slowly recovering from the disastrous crash of '97, and in an interview he outlined ambitious plans to help the rural poor share in the country's renewed prosperity. But a U.S. recession could throw those hopes into disarray. In Hong Kong, top officials express the same fears. They can't do anything to affect the U.S. economy, but they know that their prosperity is linked to U.S. economic performance. We are especially concerned about the impact on Asian economies.
Globalization is a harsh god.
It has brought immense new wealth to these Asian nations but it has also forced them to adapt their economies and even their cultural mores to its demands. The problem is how to change, but changing cultures and values is not easy. For nearly a decade the world has been able to count on a robust America as the engine of global growth. The rest of the world might suffer periodic crises of confidence, but the American boom continued as if it would last forever. The world began to take American prosperity almost for granted - the perpetual motion machine that allowed everyone else to prosper and grow.