LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

摘要

Among the weaknesses of economic practice, global economic development ranks high. What knowledge we do have owes a lot to the work of Dani Rodrik. In this important piece for this issue of Challenge, he finds that the choices made by government have been key to rapid growth in all the success stories. The latest economic fashion is to emphasize the building of the right kinds of educational, financial, and other institutions, but he acknowledges how difficult this can be. He also argues that government aid in developing particular industries can be vital. In sum, the right choices depend on the context. It is very hard to generalize an economic development plan. As he writes, what works in practice is a judicious combination of markets and government encouragement, rather than a choice of one at the expense of the other.