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
Results 1-5 of 64
Page
... falling real wages and consequently falling demand in the real economy. For decades it seemed very improbable that wages in the West would fall. I shall argue that an important reason this is now happening is the breakdown of what John ...
... falling real wages and consequently falling demand in the real economy. For decades it seemed very improbable that wages in the West would fall. I shall argue that an important reason this is now happening is the breakdown of what John ...
Page
... fall of the Berlin Wall was seen as The End of History in a very influential book.7 This view was supplemented by another book titled The End of the Nation-State.8 But both history and the nation-state came back with a vengeance, in a ...
... fall of the Berlin Wall was seen as The End of History in a very influential book.7 This view was supplemented by another book titled The End of the Nation-State.8 But both history and the nation-state came back with a vengeance, in a ...
Page
... fall of the Berlin Wall. It was after the integration of Spain that the lessons from the Marshall Plan – which had long been dead in theory – also died out in practical politics. The following table attempts to highlight the main ...
... fall of the Berlin Wall. It was after the integration of Spain that the lessons from the Marshall Plan – which had long been dead in theory – also died out in practical politics. The following table attempts to highlight the main ...
Page
... fall immediately. Having also factored this variable into Appendix VII, the beet sugar industry (activity number 4) would not have appeared as attractive as it now does. A key point – see the first item in the table above – is that in ...
... fall immediately. Having also factored this variable into Appendix VII, the beet sugar industry (activity number 4) would not have appeared as attractive as it now does. A key point – see the first item in the table above – is that in ...
Page
... falling living standards, developed into extreme nationalism. It is also worth noting that the two countries that opted for fascism were two countries in Europe that had most recently achieved national unification: Germany and Italy. At ...
... falling living standards, developed into extreme nationalism. It is also worth noting that the two countries that opted for fascism were two countries in Europe that had most recently achieved national unification: Germany and Italy. At ...
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