Financial Meltdown's Biggest Winner: Asia

Oct. 9 (Bloomberg)—The search for winners amid the global crisis often leads to unexpected places.

China, of course, with its 7.9 percent growth. Australia, too. This week it became the first Group-of-20 nation to raise interest rates since the turmoil began. That’s quite a feat, considering the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan seem to have become Islamic bankers with zero rates.

Bankruptcy attorneys are winners, as are vulture-funds, debt collectors, therapists, bartenders, and construction companies feeding off massive stimulus efforts. And don’t forget Goldman Sachs (GS), which is raking in billions even as U.S. unemployment edges toward 10 percent.

Goldman Sachs has turned adversity to its advantage. It posted record second-quarter earnings of $3.44 billion, its share price has more than doubled this year, and it set aside a record $11.4 billion to pay employees in the first half of 2009.

Let’s think ahead for a moment. Might history show those other billions—Asia’s people—benefited from the crisis? If that sounds naive, consider how the 1997 crash, for all the pain it caused, left Asia stronger. It could just happen again.

“After the Asian crisis, the region said never again,” says Rajat Nag, managing director at the Asian Development Bank in Manila. “Asia changed for the better and quickly. This time, we could see the region respond in a similar way.”