Across the world, the role of government in the economy is expanding as a result of the implosion of credit markets and the subsequent sharp decline in economic activity, as well as concerns about social and political stability.

In the West, this expansion has provoked a debate about whether it’s just a temporary response to great economic and financial turbulence or if it represents a discontinuity that will redefine government’s economic role in a significant and enduring way.

But in much of Asia, the intensity of the West’s debate on the role of government is hard to fathom. Big government hasn’t returned to Asia; it never left. Long before the current crisis, governments in fast-growing Asian economies such as Malaysia and Singapore routinely endeavored to shape economic outcomes by developing and implementing industrial policy, managing exchange rates, deploying reserves, and using state-owned assets. China’s blend of Marx and markets—Deng Xiaoping’s “capitalism with Chinese characteristics”—never envisioned a withering away of the state.

So for many who live or do business in this dynamic region, ideological angst about government’s role in the economy misses the point. In Asia, political and business leaders are far more apt to focus on what works.