The New Rich in Asia: Mobile Phones, McDonald's and Middle Class Revolution

The book's papers were written shortly before the 1997 Asian economic crisis, which spawned massive devaluations and unrest. Yet just a few years later, much of the authors' insights seem accurate. The papers give a country by country analysis of the emerging middle classes and how this might affect those countries future prospects. The level of writing seems to be directed at students of politics or economics. The papers were likely not meant for a mass audience. As a brief note, the mobile phones referred to in the title were used as a good indicator of a massive new and visible development. Yet in 95 and 96 when the papers were written, their uptake into those societies had only begun. Quite a good choice of example.