Readers of a certain age will remember when Japan was going to eat the world's lunch. These days, we gird ourselves for a "Chinese century," while awarding an honorable mention to those scrappy South Koreans every time we buy a Samsung phone or a Hyundai. The successes of these so-called tiger economies, which also include Taiwan, fascinate economists and policy makers.

Joe Studwell attempts a concise explanation of the Asian miracle in "How Asia Works," and his book comes across as a how-to of sorts:...