Remember the '80s? Japan was ascendant, America was in disarray, emerging markets were wallowing in the Decade of Debt. Asia's Century was said to have begun. Then came the collapse of Japan's bubble, followed by the currency crunch along the entire Pacific Rim. While Asia, stunned, watched from a distance, the Internet-driven New Economy mushroomed in the West. For a while, it seemed as if the long-predicted Pacific Century might be stillborn--or stolen altogether.
No longer. Asia is producing its own Net nerds, who are bringing new businesses and technologies to the region and, along the way, getting rich beyond...