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Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price:
$26.00
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$17.16
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Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.959
EAN: 9780871139689
ISBN: 0871139685
Label: Atlantic Monthly Press
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2007-10-10
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Studio: Atlantic Monthly Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Few groups are more secretive than the Asian “godfathers,” the tiny group of obscenely wealthy businessmen who control the economic fates of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Mysterious, shrewd, and ruthless, these tycoons represented eight of the twenty-five wealthiest people on the planet in the 1990s and they continue to command multibillion-dollar personal fortunes, controlling everything from banking and real estate to shipping and gambling—yet their names would not be familiar to regular readers of The Wall Street Journal. Who are they and how do they do it? That is the question Joe Studwell, author of the acclaimed book The China Dream, answers in this incisive behind-the-scenes exploration of the outsize figures behind the veil. Studwell has spent fifteen years as a reporter in the region and uses his unprecedented access to paint intimate and revealing portraits of the godfathers—who they really are and how they make, build, and maintain their fortunes. Asian Godfathers is an explosive book that lifts the curtain on a world of staggering secrecy and hypocrisy and reveals—for the first time—who the leaders of one of the world’s most important and tumultuous markets really are.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: I wish I'd read this book before I invested in SE Asian and China
Comment: I worked in Singapore in the 90's, and have kept up links with SE Asia ever since, although I have been based in the UK. I have always wondered why all my attempts to invest in the region have been disappointing. Now I know.
This book is exceptional because the author seems to know something about economics. Although there is 'colour' in the description of the various godfathers, the author is very clear about the way their money comes from seeking of economic rents, rather than from engaging in proper competitive value creation.
I have talked to a lot of Chinese and Hong Kong businesspeople, and read a lot of books about the Chinese economy, and ivesting in China. I lived in the region for three years. I learned a lot more from this book than I learned from these other sources. I strongly urge you to buy it, especially if you are tempted to invest in the region.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Deromanticizing can go too far
Comment: The word Mr. Studwell adopts for his title, "godfathers," has of course acquired its relevant connotations from a classic novel by Mario Puzo and the subsequent motion-picture trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Messrs. Puzo and Coppola were self consciously creating a myth, romanticizing the ugly reality of mob violence. Mr. Studwell thinks of himself as the debunker of a myth, and he employs the Puzo-Coppola language to reverse its effect.
The myth about Southeast Asia is a matter of Sinocentric cultural determinism. Chinese ethnic groups have scattered about the region and wherever they have gone--so runs a common contention--they have brought with them a Confucian ethos, a dedication to hard work and entrepreneurialism, which has sparked growth and turned the beneficiary nations into "tigers" of productivity.
Those whom Mr. Studwell calls Asia's "godfathers"--the Chearavanont family in Thailand and the Hartonos family of Indonesia are two examples--have taken advantage of this myth to legitimize their own wealth and privilege. He associates them with the Corleones of Sicily and New York, then, in an effort at deflation.
The class at issue isn't, furthermore, as thoroughly Chinese as it portrays itself or as its outside admirers imagine. A few, such as the two families just mentioned, surely are. Many others are partially ethnic Chinese, and in such cases "the non-Chinese bloodline is sometimes seen as a source of embarrassment and played down, particularly in a Chinese setting." Still others aren't Chinese at all. Ananda Krishnan, of Malaysia, surely belongs in any list of the region's godfathers, though he's a Sri Lankan Tamil.
In general, Mr. Studwell contends that the godfather class throughout the region has been a retardant to growth, not the accelerant that its quite successfully promulgated self-image would have one believe. Southeast Asia hasn't shared the successes of Northeast Asia--Japan, South Korea and Taiwan--for three reasons. The northeastern countries have a successful history of land reform behind them. They have seen the development and political encouragement of branded businesses (not merely outsourcing operations for western brands) that compete globally. They've learned the tricky politics of stable multi-party competition. That is the direction forward for their southern brethren.
I learned a good deal from this book. Still, I think that Studwell rather overdoes it, and allows deromanticization to spill over into distortion. I suspect that Confucian values do have something to do with developments in the region, just as Calvinism has had a good deal to do with economic developments in the north of Europe for the last few centuries.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The tycoons who ride the backs of Asian tigers
Comment: The Western world views the economies of Southeast Asia as "Asian tigers," and sees Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines as hubs of free trade and innovation. Not so fast, warns Asia expert Joe Studwell. What appear to be sleek, streamlined economies are more like rickety old jalopies that creak with cronyism and secretive monopolies. In this enlightening, searing attack, Studwell pegs Asia's ruling tycoons or "godfathers" as charming billionaire throwbacks who ruthlessly control business empires with the permission of corrupt, ever-shifting governments, prospering as the populace struggles. Studwell does a masterful job of synthesizing a sprawling topic. getAbstract recommends his book to anyone who's considering investing in or doing business in Southeast Asia.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Summary of Southeast Asian Politics and Business
Comment: As a student with an MA in Southeast Asian Studies, I can attest that this book does a great job summarizing the economic and political landscape of Southeast Asia. The book focuses on the role of the region's elite businessmen and how they take advantage of corruption, weak anti-monopoly laws, and political connections to build their empires. These elites dominate the domestic sectors of the economy, so they generally do not compete with multinational firms in the export sector.
Unlike other books I have read on Southeast Asia, this one not only provides examples but identifies larger trends and patterns that are useful in understanding the problems Southeast Asia currently faces. There is a lot of information, and it can be a pretty dense read for readers not already attuned to the region, but it's definitely worth it, even if just to get an idea of how politics and business really don't mix well in the region.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not what Expected
Comment: The book was well written and obviously well researched, but I guess I was looking for more of an action packed, backstabbing account 'Mafia Style.'
Very informative nonetheless.
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