16. A Complex Systems Approach to Uneven Development in Asia: Political Economy and Mathematical Models

My main purpose is to explore a somewhat novel complex systems approach to uneven development in a rigorous manner. One salient application is a fairly comprehensive strategy for development as freedom in Asia with tactical differences in different regions flowing out of uneven development, and a nuanced path dependence. Accordingly, I try to find a way to integrate useful markets with the key characteristics of the Enabling Developmental State for the Twenty-First Century to model a growing ecologically sustainable economy with equity in terms of capabilities. Proceeding from a critical capabilities perspective that is fully grounded in social reality of deepening but uneven structural and ecological crises of the global system, we discover that such a perspective leads to the need to include among the characteristics of the Enabling Developmental State for the Twenty-First Century its capacity to build an ecologically sustainable egalitarian development strategy. In addition, democracy must be deepened over time. For Asia, a community of different Asian regions following their own rhythm to reach their own dynamic trajectories toward development as freedom will be possible if they cooperate regionally on the basis of equal sovereignty and mutual respect. One precondition is to pragmatically unite for a common but tactically flexible economic strategy. Tactically, the developmentalists have to be flexible because different Asian countries are at different stages of development and there are many region and country-specific spatiotemporal features that need to be taken into account. There is no single set of tactical blueprints for all in a world of uneven development. The complex systems developmental models in the Appendixes can handle regional uneven development. The model has its basis in part on my empirical work on economy-wide modeling of South Korea, Taiwan, and the BRICS.