South Korea & Taiwan's Explosive Economic Growth

In one course that I took at Yonsei University, ISM2107 Politics and Business in Korea, the professor had a book list that included this very awesome book by Robert Wade called Governing the Market:
Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization.

This book is incredible in that is sheds light on the explosive economic growth of Taiwan and South Korea.  This has been a hot topic in the field of economics.

From my understanding, both South Korea and Taiwan had authoritarian governments that engineered their perspective economies to become EOE (export oriented economies).  They were able to go about their planned economies with closed markets due to a very unique socio-political situations in both Taiwan and South Korea, and also in part due to the Cold War.  The USA opened its markets to South Korea and Taiwan despite their closed and governed markets combined with totalitarian state control.  As both Taiwan and South Korea were U.S. allies in the fight against communism, USA tolerated to some extent lack of democracy or free market economies.

Other developing nations, such as those in Latin America and Africa are naturally interested in the surprising growth of Taiwan and South Korea in hopes of replicating some of the success.  I think this book is a must read for anyone interested in Far East Asia or developing economies.

Additionally, given our turbulent economic times, as we (society) try to search for new political-economic tools, such as breathing life into certain struggling sectors, this book is an invaluable resource.