How rich countries got rich ... and why poor countries stay poor
A maverick economist explains how protectionism makes nations rich, free trade keeps them poor-and how rich countries make sure to keep it that way. Throughout history, some combination of government intervention, protectionism, and strategic investment has driven successful development everywhere from Renaissance Italy to the modern Far East. Yet despite the demonstrable success of this approach, development economists largely ignore it and insist instead on the importance of free trade. Somehow, the thing that made rich nations rich supposedly won't work on poor countries anymore. Leading heterodox economist Erik Reinert's invigorating history of economic development shows how Western economies were founded on protectionism and state activism and only later promoted free trade, when it worked to their advantage. In the tug-of-war between the gospel of government intervention and free-market purists, the issue is not that one is more correct, but that the winning nation tends to favor whatever benefits them most. As Western countries begin to sense that the rules of the game they set were rigged, Reinert's classic book gains new urgency. His unique and edifying approach to the history of economic development is critical reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got here and what to do next, especially now that we aren't so sure we'll be the winners anymore
History
1 online resource
9781541756762, 9781541762886, 1541756762, 1541762886
1122732587
Introduction to the 2019 edition
Introduction to the 2007 edition
Discovering types of economic theories
The evolution of the two different approaches
Emulation : how rich countries got rich
Globalization : the arguments in favour are also the arguments against
Globalization and primitivization : how the poor get even poorer
Explaining away failure : red herrings at the end of history
Palliative economics : why the millennium goals are a bad idea
'Get the economic activities right', or, the lost art of creating middle-income countries
Appendices. David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage in international trade ; Two different ways of understanding the economic world and the wealth and poverty of nations ; Frank Graham's theory of uneven development ; Two ideal types of protectionism compared ; Philipp von Hörnigk's nine points on how to emulate the rich countries (1684) ; The quality index of economic activities ; The quality index expressed in real US data (1899-1937)
Title from resource description page (Recorded Books, viewed October 07, 2019)