Report: The Worst Recession Since WWII

SINGAPORE-According to a new report issued by Cushman & Wakefield, this recession is one of the worst since World War II. And while Asia managed to avoid being severely hurt by 2008′s subprime crisis, this year it will not be as lucky.

C&W’s Megan Walters, chief economist Asia Pacific, who compiled the report, compares the current economic condition in Asia to the 1997 downturn. A little more than 10 years ago, the recession started with a banking crisis in the US, which spread to Europe and then Asia. According to the report, “Bank lending against real estate assets led to a boom in asset prices followed by a sharp bustas real estate prices crashed.”

After this crisis hit, it took some areas of Asia years to recover. Total returns in Tokyo remained in the negative through 2002. However most areas felt the aftereffects for just a couple years after the 1997 crisis, Singapore, and Seoul all experienced the downturn in 1998, while Shanghai and Beijing felt the effects in 1999. Tokyo and Hong Kong ended up feeling the effects longer.