July marks the 20th anniversary of the float of the Thai baht, the opening signal of the Asian financial crisis. None who watched the crisis unfold realized at the time that it marked the end of the "Asian miracle" for the countries involved.
By the time global financial officials met in Tokyo in mid-August of that year to cobble together enough funds to supplement the International Monetary Fund's package for Thailand, we understood that this was the end of an era. The contagion had spread to Indonesia, and concerns about South Korea were growing.
