Historical perspective and initial conditions
This chapter provides a historical perspective on Asia in the world economy with a focus on the colonial era, and sketches a profile of the prevalent initial conditions when Asian countries became independent. Two centuries ago, Asia accounted for two-thirds of world population and almost three-fifths of world income. Its decline and fall during the colonial era, associated with deindustrialization, was attributable to its integration with the world economy, through trade and investment, driven by imperialism. Fifty years ago, then, Asia was the poorest continent in the world. Its even worse demographic and social indicators of development epitomized its underdevelopment. Such initial conditions were the starting point in its journey to development. But most Asian countries did have a long history of well-structured states, and cultures, which were not entirely destroyed by colonialism. Their different pasts, embedded in histories albeit shaped by colonial legacies, also influenced future outcomes in development.