Floating exchange rates were allowed to decline when under pressure, which helped to avoid any sense of crisis and associated contagion from one country to another. Monetary and fiscal policies were generally eased, something which, in many instances, was not possible during the initial phase of the earlier crisis.
This meant that while the global slump did affect East Asia, the effects were ameliorated, rather than exacerbated, by the policy structures and responses. Nonetheless, the recent experience may prompt some of the East Asian economies to think about the extent of their exposure to the high-technology sector.