Book discussion: How Asia Works

​What was the best thing that ever happened? From a very zoomed-out, by-the-numbers perspective, it has to be China's sudden lurch from Third World basketcase to dynamic modern economy. A billion people went from starving peasants to the middle class. In the 1960s, sixty million people died of famine in the Chinese countryside; by the 2010s, that same countryside was criss-crossed with the world's most advanced high-speed rail network, and dotted with high-tech factories.

​And the best thing that ever happened kept happening, again and again. First it was Japan during the Meiji Restoration. Then it was Korea and Taiwan in the 1960s. Then China in the 90s. Now Vietnam and others seem poised to follow.

​There was nothing predetermined about this. These countries started with nothing. In 1950, South Korea and Taiwan were poorer than Honduras or the Congo. But they managed to break into the ranks of the First World even while dozens of similar countries stayed poor. Why?

​Come discuss one of the best books on how nations grow from poverty to riches, How Asia Works by Joe Studwell.

​I'll give a short presentation on the book's ideas, so you don't need to read the book ahead of time. If you want to be prepared I recommend reading the full review quoted above:
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-how-asia-works