Showing papers by "June Teufel Dreyer published in 1991"

Taiwan in 1990: Finetuning the System

Abstract: The Economy By mid-1990, economic growth estimates were revised downward from 7.27% to 5.25%, and by October, higher international oil prices forced a second downward revision, to 5.14%. Although the last figure is still impressive, it represented an eight-year low and caused much speculation about the future. The Republic of China's (ROC) cabinet-level Council on Economic Development and Planning (CEDP) attributed the drop to a "bursting of economic bubbles," which it had in fact been predicting for some time. Noting that speculative activities-mainly in stocks, land, and currency-had caused inflationary pressures and had begun to affect negatively the island's equitably distributed income ratio, CEDP officials opined that the temporary downturn would be beneficial to the nation's long-term economic development. By far the largest of the burst bubbles was the hitherto overheated stock market, which dropped 78%, from just under 12,500 to a low of 2,500 points, in eight months before rebounding slightly. The CEDP advised continued expansion in public investment and strong curbs on speculative activities to ensure strong, economic growth. Other economists suggested that the ROC had entered into a medium economic growth stage, similar to the phase Japan had entered in 1973.