Economic Development and the 'Old' International Order

摘要

The principal reason why there are not more instances of sustained economic development among the LDCs is that they, or more exactly, economic development among the LDCs is that they, or more exactly, their leadership and their policymaking processes have other goals and objectives which compete for resources and attention with the goals of development. The competing objectives include greater national recognition in the international community (e.g., hyperactivity in international organizations and in diplomatic representation abroad), exercising ideological preferences (for socialism or etatisme), resolving (and sometimes activating) territorial or other disputes with traditional adversaries, and emphasizing (but usually without accomplishing) international redistribution rather than domestic economic growth. Although the prospects are, in general, not bright, there are some possibilities. If an investor, or a banker, or a policymaker were to ask me where the best prospects lie, I would give a two-part reply. First, examine on a country-by-country basis which LDCs seem to be adopting the political and economic recipes discussed earlier. For this purpose, changes are as significant as levels of effort. Second, my casual impression is, if this country-by-country review were made, the most promising candidates would include the following: Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, and perhaps Turkey. If all of them reach or surpass in the 1980s the experience of the NICs in the 1970s, they and the international community will be fortunate.