U.S. imports will be the mirror image of exports. Another way of saying stronger dollar is lower prices for goods from Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and Korea. Such goods include apparel, consumer electronic devices, toys, automobiles and auto components. This will be good news for consumers but will mean more pressure on those U.S. producers who compete with imports. While the general direction of the effects on exports and imports is clear, their magnitude is still very much an open question.
Some observers point to the underlying dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of Asian societies.
They argue that with some restructuring of financial institutions, the Asian tigers and tiger cubs can quickly return to strong growth. Mexico serves as an example. Hit by a very similar foreign exchange and banking crisis in 1994, Mexico devalued, restructured and is racking up 7 percent economic growth in 1997. Other analysts are less sanguine. They argue that the problems of Asian economies are more fundamental, more deeply embedded in those nations' institutions and cultures.