And some experts see a silver lining in the suddenness of the collapse, pointing out that several Southeast Asian countries have swung sharply from current account deficits to large surpluses in which the countries are once again accumulating foreign reserves. Whatever the future holds, it is clear that the situation is already far worse than was envisioned when the economic troubles first emerged as a currency crisis in Thailand in July 1997 and quickly spread to Southeast Asian countries and South Korea. One reason was that Japan, the region's economic giant, was caught up in its own economic troubles and could not provide a buffer to cushion the shock. And many say a real restoration to economic health will take a long time. In South Korea, a turnaround may not come until 2001.
Old habits are hard to break, so it takes time.
In Korea, the unemployment rate had tripled to about 8 percent by July. In Thailand, official joblessness had nearly doubled from the end of 1997 to May, reaching 5 percent. More recent figures, which are undoubtedly worse, are not yet available. While those levels appear low by comparison with those in Europe, the jump in Asia is startling because it is occurring so rapidly after years of phenomenal growth. And in Asia, the safety nets have big holes or there are simply no nets at all.