Growth Is Not Enough; A new report envisions a 'middle income' Asia by 2020, but only if the region makes some big changes in the way it does business.

Byline: George Wehrfritz

Imagine if Asia--a place where roughly 20 percent of the population still lives on $1 per day--could largely rid itself of abject poverty by 2020. Such an achievement would crown a regionwide boom that was launched with Japan's rise from the embers of World War II, and is driven today by the dynamic growth of China and India. The possibility is within reach, according to a new report by a blue-ribbon panel that includes Sony's retired group chairman, Nobuyuki Idei, and former U.S. Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers. Their paper, entitled "Toward a New Asian Development Bank in a New Asia," is not a work of rose-colored conjecture. Indeed, it makes the case that Asia won't attain this dramatic goal unless there's a sea change in the way it does business.

The study's main thrust is simple enough: growth, in and of itself, is no longer enough. The current development model has ...