How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay PoorPublicAffairs, 2019 M10 1 - 432 pages 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. |
From inside the book
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... called the balance of countervailing powers,3 the power of big business was limited by big labor and big government, and this kept national wages rising in step with industrial productivity.4 David Ricardo's observation in 1817 that the ...
... called the balance of countervailing powers,3 the power of big business was limited by big labor and big government, and this kept national wages rising in step with industrial productivity.4 David Ricardo's observation in 1817 that the ...
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... called the European Economic Community during the 1980s, European policy was extremely focused on making sure manufacturing industry survived in all member nations. The goal was symmetrical integration between nations that all had a ...
... called the European Economic Community during the 1980s, European policy was extremely focused on making sure manufacturing industry survived in all member nations. The goal was symmetrical integration between nations that all had a ...
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... called internal devaluation has cut real wages by up to 30 percent. Unemployment and low living standards force people to leave the country, and the population has decreased by around 20 percent, from 2.38 million to 1.9 million since ...
... called internal devaluation has cut real wages by up to 30 percent. Unemployment and low living standards force people to leave the country, and the population has decreased by around 20 percent, from 2.38 million to 1.9 million since ...
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... called the 'bundle of obsolete habiliments one's mind drags round'. A key obsolete notion is that all economic activities should be seen as being qualitatively alike, as is implicit in Ricardian trade theory. Since economic activities ...
... called the 'bundle of obsolete habiliments one's mind drags round'. A key obsolete notion is that all economic activities should be seen as being qualitatively alike, as is implicit in Ricardian trade theory. Since economic activities ...
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... called symmetrical trade); 2. free trade is not part and parcel of democracy; in fact, the arrows of causality point more in the opposite direction: industrialism comes first. The middle classes that make democracies stable depend.
... called symmetrical trade); 2. free trade is not part and parcel of democracy; in fact, the arrows of causality point more in the opposite direction: industrialism comes first. The middle classes that make democracies stable depend.
Contents
Against | |
How the Poor Get Even Poorer | |
Red Herrings at the End of History | |
Why the Millennium Goals are a Bad Idea | |
Get the economic activities right or the Lost Art of Creating | |
David Ricardos Theory of Comparative Advantage | |
Frank Grahams Theory of Uneven Development | |
Philipp von Hörnigks Nine Points on How to Emulate the Rich | |
About the Author | |
Notes | |
Other editions - View all
How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor Erik S. Reinert No preview available - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam Smith agriculture argued assumptions capital Carlota Perez century colonies comparative advantage core costs created David Ricardo deindustrialization diminishing returns dynamic economic activities economic development economic growth economic policy economic structure economic theory economists emulation England English Erik Reinert Europe European export factors free trade Friedrich List globalization herders history of economic human imperfect competition important income increasing returns activities industrial policy industrial sector innovations international trade London manufacturing industry manufacturing sector Marshall Plan mechanisms Mongolia Morgenthau Plan neo-classical neo-classical economics Norway paradigm Peru political poor countries poverty problems productivity explosions protection qualitative raw materials real wages Ricardian rich countries Saami Schumpeter Schumpeterian social society Standard Canon standard economics standard textbook economics Starting point strategy synergies tariffs technological change tend Third World today’s trade theory type of economic understanding United Washington Consensus Washington institutions wealth welfare World Bank