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Definitions and Basics
The development experiences of Third World countries since the fifties have been staggeringly diverse—and hence very informative. Forty years ago the developing countries looked a lot more like each other than they do today. Take India and South Korea. By any standards, both countries were extremely poor: India's income per capita was about $150 (in 1980 dollars) and South Korea's was about $350. Life expectancy was about forty years and fifty years respectively. In both countries roughly 70 percent of the people worked on the land, and farming accounted for 40 percent of national income. The two countries were so far behind the industrial world that it seemed nearly inconceivable that either could ever attain reasonable standards of living, let alone catch up....Economic Growth, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
Some ideas from the developed world are rapidly adopted by less developed countries. For example, oral rehydration therapy now saves the lives of hundreds of thousands of children who previously would have died from diarrhea. Yet governments in poor countries continue to impede the flow of many other kinds of ideas, especially those with commercial value. Even automobile producers in North America recognize that they can learn from ideas developed in the rest of the world. But car firms in India operate in a government-created protective time warp. The Hillman and Austin cars produced in England in the fifties continue to roll off production lines in India today. India's commitment to closing itself off and striving for self-sufficiency has been as strong as Japan's commitment to acquiring foreign ideas and participating fully in world markets. The outcomes—grinding poverty in India and opulence in Japan—could hardly be more disparate.
In the News and Examples
William Easterly of NYU talks about why some nations escape poverty while others do not, why aid almost always fails to create growth, and what can realistically be done to help the poorest people in the world....George Srour on Education, African Schools, and Building Tomorrow, podcast on EconTalk
George Srour, founder of Building Tomorrow, a non-profit that builds schools in Uganda, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his experience starting, funding, and running an organization that tries to change the world one school at a time. Srour discusses how he tries to make sure that his organization accomplishes more than bricks and mortar and the rewards and challenges of a start-up non-profit....Mike Munger on Fair Trade and Free Trade, podcast on EconTalk
Mike Munger, frequent guest and longtime Econlib contributor, speaks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about fair trade coffee and free trade agreements. Does the premium for fair trade coffee end up in the hands of the grower? What economic forces might stop that from happening? They discuss the business strategy of using higher wages as a marketing strategy to attract concerned consumers. They turn to the issue of free trade agreements. If the ideal situation is open borders to foreign products, is it still worthwhile to negotiate bilateral and multilateral agreements that requires delays, exemptions and a bureaucracy to enforce? What is the cost of including environmental and various labor market regulations in these agreements?...Jerven on Measuring African Poverty and Progress. EconTalk Podcast.
Morten Jerven of Simon Fraser University, author of Poor Numbers, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the quality of data coming out of Africa on income, growth, and population. Jerven argues that the inconsistency of the numbers and methodology both across countries and within a country across time, makes many empirical studies of African progress meaningless. The conversation closes with a discussion of what might be done to improve data collection in poor countries.Karol Boudreaux on Property Rights and Incentives in Africa, podcast on EconTalk
Karol Boudreaux, Senior Research Fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her field work and research in Rwanda and South Africa. In Rwanda, she studied how a change in incentives and property rights for coffee farmers has allowed the coffee bean growers to improve quality and prosper. In South Africa's Langa Township, she looked at how renters were allowed to become homeowners and how the ability to own changed their lives....A Tale of Two Countries: Botswana and Zimbabwe, a LearnLiberty video.
Prof. Scott Beaulier explains the differences in living standards between Botswana to other African countries, specifically Zimbabwe.The Shackled Continent, a LearnLiberty video.
Robert Guest, through a series of personal travel stories, explains the causes and his proposed solutions to Africa's poverty.Acemoglu on Why Nations Fail, podcast on EconTalk. March 19, 2012.
Daron Acemoglu of MIT and author (with James Robinson) of Why Nations Fail talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in his book: why some nations fail and others succeed, why some nations grow over time and sustain that growth, while others grow and then stagnate. Acemoglu draws on an exceptionally rich set of examples over space and time to argue that differences in institutions--political governance and the inclusiveness of the political and economic system--explain the differences in economics success across nations and over time. Acemoglu also discusses how institutions evolve and the critical role institutional change plays in economic success or failure. Along the way, he explains why previous explanations for national economic success are inadequate. The conversation closes with a discussion of the implications of the arguments for foreign aid and attempts by the wealthy nations to help nations that are poor....Hanushek on Educational Quality and Economic Growth, podcast on EconTalk
Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Eric Hanushek talks about his research on the impact of educational quality on economic growth. Past efforts to increase the economic growth rate of poor countries have focused on years of schooling, neglecting the quality and true education that needs to take place. Hanushek presents dramatic findings about the decisive nature of cognitive ability and knowledge in driving economic growth. Join us as Hanushek talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his findings and the implications for public policy around the world and in the United States....Paul Collier on the Bottom Billion, podcast on EconTalk
Paul Collier of Oxford University talks about the ideas in his recent book, The Bottom Billion, an analysis of why the poorest countries in the world fail to grow. He talks about conflict, natural resources, being landlocked, and bad governance, four factors he identifies as causes of the desperate poverty and stagnation in the countries where 1/6 of the world's poorest peoples live....
A Little History: Primary Sources and References
At the end of World War II, Japan's economy was in tatters. Some 40 percent of its capital stock was destroyed during the war, and the Japanese standard of living was at pre-World War I levels. Today Japan has the second-largest economy in the world and its growth is the envy of most of the world. From 1952, when the American occupation ended, until 1991, Japan's real GNP grew at an average rate of 6.8 percent per year. During the period of greatest growth, from 1952 to 1971, real GNP grew at an average annual rate of 9.6 percent. Because of the miracle of compounding, Japan's GNP in 1991 was over thirteen times its 1952 level. In the United States from 1952 to 1991, by contrast, real GNP grew at an average rate of 2.9 percent, and only tripled over the whole period....German Economic Miracle, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
After World War II the German economy lay in shambles. The war, along with Hitler's scorched-earth policy, had destroyed 20 percent of all housing. Food production per capita in 1947 was only 51 percent of its level in 1938, and the official food ration set by the occupying powers varied between 1,040 and 1,550 calories per day. Industrial output in 1947 was only one-third its 1938 level. Moreover, a large percentage of Germany's working-age men were dead. At the time, observers thought that Germany would have to be the biggest client of the U.S. welfare state. Yet twenty years later its economy was envied by most of the world. And less than ten years after the war people already were talking about the German economic miracle....Third World Debt, from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
By the end of 1990 the world's poor and developing countries owed more than $1.3 trillion to industrialized countries. Among the largest problem debtors were Brazil ($116 billion), Mexico ($97 billion), and Argentina ($61 billion). Of the total developing-country debt, roughly half is owed to private creditors, mainly commercial banks. br>
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