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> force them to adopt trade policies that prevent industrialization, and domestic policies that prevent them from educating their people. I feel rather naive,
by jibiki 17y ago
> force them to adopt trade policies that prevent industrialization, and domestic policies that prevent them from educating their people.
I feel rather naive, as I have no idea what you're talking about. The only thing I can think of is NAFTA, and I've heard that had the opposite effect (damaging the Mexican agricultural sector.)
- aaronsw 17y agoTrade policies: The traditional way developing countries industrialize is by picking something they import from other countries and learning to make it themselves. This requires a period of huge government subsidies and economic intervention to get that industry started. (Read _Bad Samaritans_ for numerous examples, including the story of how the US and Britain developed this way.) US-led global institutions like the WTO, IMF, and World Bank push countries to not intervene in their economy and prohibit subsidizing local industries as a violation of "free trade". Domestically, the same sort of "structural adjustment" policies require countries to dismantle social safety nets and privatize government and institute "austerity" measures which have disastrous effects on human capital.