Part of the debate over the East Asian miracle has focused on the role of the so-called ‘developmental state’. This paper focuses on three Southeast Asian economies, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand (MIT economies) once dubbed high performing Asian economies (HPAEs) before the 1997-98 East Asian financial crises.

The paper starts with a critical review of the World Bank’s (1993) influential study of the East Asian economic miracle, especially its treatment of industrial policy. The following section emphasizes the diversity of East Asian experiences and the significance of recognizing this diversity for drawing appropriate lessons. The fourth section stresses the inferiority of the Southeast Asian experiences – compared to their other East Asian counterparts. The fifth section advances the critique of Southeast Asian industrialization, while the sixth section extends the critique to other aspects besides industrialization. The seventh section elaborates on the 1997-98 Southeast Asian currency and financial crises, which ended the Southeast Asian miracle. The concluding part identifies some new challenges for a contemporary developmental state, particularly in terms of industrial policy options available.