January 19, 1998
TAKING IN THE SITES / By SREENATH SREENIVASAN
Tracking the Asian Economic Crisis
T he economic crisis in Asia has generated a great deal of interest
in news about the region, and many people are increasingly turning to
the World Wide Web for timely information.
As in most recent crises, the turmoil in Asia highlights the best of
the Internet (global reach, firsthand sources, instant access) and
the worst (irrelevant search results, selective updates, repetitive
data, inaccurate rumors). As with most subjects, it is best to have a
map and some experts on hand to help you out.
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Visitors can find out how the Malaysian ringgit is doing against the
South Korean won or even the Cape Verde escudo.
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"The Web has been most useful for keeping track of the crisis," said
Nouriel Roubini, a professor of international economics at the Stern
School of Business at New York University. "The amount of data and
information available is quite impressive."
Professor Roubini maintains a site for his class that even people
without an MBA will find helpful in learning about the crisis. What
the site lacks in fancy design it makes up in analysis, extensive
links and a detailed chronology. The main question his site tries to
answer: "What caused Asia's economic and currency crisis and its
global contagion?"
Even economists who suffer from information overload can find the Web
has a purpose when it comes to the crisis. "You are going to pick up
a wider range of perspectives with the Internet than with other
systems," said Ronald R. Reuss, chief economist for Piper Jaffray, a
brokerage firmed based in Minneapolis. He uses the Web mainly to
supplement the more sophisticated information resources -- like
Bloomberg News and Reuters -- he has at his disposal.
Rajiv J. Chaudhri, a former Goldman, Sachs semiconductor analyst and
now president of Digital Century Capital, a technology hedge fund,
keeps a close eye on the events in Asia.
"For me, the Web is a very important research tool," he said. "I need
to know what is happening there because it impacts a lot of
technology companies here." His Web visits include English-language
papers published in Asia.
RELATED ARTICLES
New York Times Index: The Financial Crisis in Asia
Several news sites, both here and abroad, offer good starting points.
For example, The New York Times on the Web has a section dedicated to
the topic. It has articles dating back to December as well as opinion
articles and forums in which visitors can discuss the crisis.
The search engine Yahoo offers a collection of the latest news items
relating to the situation. An online news agency based in London
called Out There News has a handy country-by-country guide so you can
see that despite being called the "Asian financial crisis," it has
not yet affected the entire continent.
Several Asia-based news sites worth visiting are linked from the
Times. Also, check out the site of The Far Eastern Economic Review,
the Hong Kong-based publication owned by Dow Jones & Co., which
provides coverage of different sectors of the economy. Articles from
The Asian Wall Street Journal are available on The Wall Street
Journal's Web site -- for a fee.
To go beyond the headlines, some sites provide tools to analyze the
data. Indonesia Net Exchange carries stock quotes, research reports
and links to listed companies and the Jakarta Stock Exchange. And
Bloomberg's site offers some resources that are accessible without
paying the $1,200 a month for a dedicated terminal. For instance, an
online calculator gives rates for more than 215 currencies. So
visitors can find out how the Malaysian ringgit is doing against the
South Korean won or even the Cape Verde escudo.
To learn about how the crisis is affecting the United States, a site
called the Dismal Scientist, which bills itself as the "Web's
authoritative source for economic information," has a section dealing
with the effect of the crisis on different regions of the country.
T he sites of the international organizations that are such crucial
players all have Web sites, but they vary in usefulness.
The International Monetary Fund site has a section called "IMF
Bailouts: Truth and Fiction" that answers critics unhappy with the
assistance packages provided to South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand.
The World Bank basically has an archive of news releases and
statements by its top executives on the crisis. The Bank for
International Settlements, a sort of central bank for the world's
central banks, has comprehensive reports on the assets and
liabilities of banks of the affected countries.
Getting worthwhile information from the pertinent institutions in
Asia is difficult because the sites do not have easy-to-find sections
on the subject at hand. A visit to the Asian Development Bank in
Manila, the Bank of Thailand in Bangkok or the South Korean Ministry
of Finance and Economy in Seoul yields little that is current or that
has been updated in recent days.
For another perspective on the situation in Asia, check out The
International Workers Bulletin, the journal of the World Socialist
Web site. It addresses "the urgent need for a revolutionary socialist
response to the crisis of the world capitalist system," and has a
series of articles about the consequences of the situation for
workers.
Asia Online, a site on the Asian Buying Consortium, has a forum
specifically to discuss "Asian market rumors" where advice is freely
offered by other Web surfers.
The difficulties in Asia are sure to be a major topic of discussion
at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The
conference attracts some of the biggest names in business and
government, and its Web site may be worth keeping an eye on when the
conference starts on Jan. 29.
TAKING IN THE SITES is published weekly, on Mondays. Click here for a
list of links to other columns in the series.
Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company
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