July 1997 was when the sins of recent past finally caught up with the region and made mockery of the achievements of the past two decades. The paper steadfastly maintain that (1) the rumor of the East Asian model’s demise is grossly exaggerated, (2) that fundamentals, not sentiment, will rule the long-run roost, (3) that the worst of the crisis is passed us and if the Philippines play its cards well, 1998 will be a positive growth year, and (4) that laid before us in the guise of the crisis is the rarest opportunity in this half century to finally bid the boom-bust cycle adieu.
