In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Jan Kregel Two Views on the Obstacles to Development I COUNT MYSELF AMONG THE MULTITUDE GIVEN AN INTRODUCTION TO the history of economic thought through Bob Heilbroner’s The Worldly Philosophers. When I first read the book Iwas not sufficiently knowledge­ able of foreign languages to recognize the distinguishing characteristic for those included in the book was having a unique Weltanschauung. These were not worldlyphilosophers in the sense of having experience of the world, but rather in the sense of having an individual worldview of economic development. My recollection is that I had the book assigned as a basic text in the autumn of 1964. Most students of economics were then unaware of the implications of the UN Trusteeship Council’s rapid creation of new independent states from former colonies and the problems of economic development that they would face. But, the June 1963 pref­ ace to the revised edition o f The Worldly Philosophers (despite several transoceanic moves I still have my original copy) already notes that this shift reflected the change in economics toward “more concern over the trend of economic development” (1964: ii). Most ofthe specific discussion ofdevelopment issues is found in the concluding chapter, “Beyond the Economic Revolution,” which laments This contribution is made in the author’s personal capacity and should not be interpreted as representing official positions of the United Nations on the subject. I am grateful to M. Forstater, W. Milberg, and L. R. Wray for comments that have improved the text. social research Vol 71 : No 2 : Summer 2 004 279 that economists are not “in general today keenly aware of the historic responsibilities and implications” of making policy recommendations on appropriate priorities and strategies for developing countries: The trend in economic thought in our time is not towards the “grand dynamics” of the future, but turns aside from such speculative social forecasting to consideration of more “scientific” matters. Many economists build “models” ... of an economy in growth, or concern themselves with complex quasi-engineering problems of labor inputs and commod­ ity outputs. . . . But if the temper of most contemporary economists tends to be unadventuresome and academic there is no lack of prophecy and persuasion to which we can turn. Only they are not new voices. They go back—all of them—to the arguments and architecture of the great economists themselves” (290). Heilbroner’s position reflects Adolph Lowe’s (1976) that “the standard works of the classical economists—Smith, Ricardo, Marx—not only contain but essentially are theories of economic growth” (Lowe, 1976: 5; emphasis in original). Returning to the book some 40 years later provides a range of alternative approaches, in contrast to the modem convergence of opinion on development issues and the basis for some reflection on the “trend of economic development” policy. Today it is widely believed that economists know the right poli­ cies required for successful economic development; it is just a ques­ tion of sufficient political will for governments to implement them. These basic policies largely reflect the principles put forward in the “Washington Consensus” policies applied in Latin America over the last two decades and the market “shock” approach to Eastern European transition. They do not, however, reflect the experience of the Asian economies. This alone should be cause for concern—since the 1960s Asia has far outstripped the performance of both Latin America and Eastern Europe. 280 social research This modern approach accepts what has been considered a given of development economics since the adaptation of the HarrodDomar growth models of the 1940s and 1950s: the need to augment the resources available to support growth since developing countries lack the will or the ability to increase domestic savings or to attract foreign capital. Successful economies that have experienced growth have over­ come this obstacle so that the sole aim of development policy can be reduced to the introduction and implementation of appropriate poli­ cies to improve the domestic mobilization of resources and to provide a hospitable domestic environment to attract the resources of foreign investors. The emphasis is on the implementation of domestic policies that will provide a sufficient flow of resources domestically or from abroad to be invested and produce higher growth. These...

pdf

Share