Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 6: 'Windows 98 in 1997; Is it wrong to 'borrow' ideas?', John Law and the first technological arms race, p. 127
Ha-Joon Chang: Economics
Ha-Joon Chang is Economist. Explore interesting quotes on economics.
Ha-Joon Chang:
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“Trade is simply too important for economic development to be left to free trade economists.”
Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 3, More trade, fewer ideologies, p. 83
Context: The importance of international trade for economic development cannot be overemphasized. But free trade is not the best path to economic development. Trade helps economic development only when the country employs a mixture of protection and open trade, constantly adjusting it according to its changing needs and capabilities. Trade is simply too important for economic development to be left to free trade economists.
Source: 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 9, Tilting the playing field, p. 219
Prologue, p. 15
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008)
Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 8: 'Zaire vs Indonesia, Should we turn our backs on corrupt and undemocratic countries?', Prosperity and honesty, p. 166
“95% of Economics is common sense deliberately made complicated.”
Lecture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whVf5tuVbus at the RSA about his book 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, September 2010.
“Culture changes with economic development.”
Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 9: 'Lazy Japanese and thieving Germans; Are some cultures incapable of economic development?', Lazy Japanese and thieving Germans, p. 196
“Low inflation and government prudence may be harmful for economic development.”
Prologue, p. 18
Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008)
“The foundation of economic development is the acquisition of more productive knowledge.”
Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 6, Harsh rules and developing countries, p. 142
"Austerity has never worked" http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/04/austerity-policy-eurozone-crisis, The Guardian, 4 June 2012.
“Are you still convinced that inflation is incompatible with economic success?”
Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 7: 'Mission impossible?; Can financial prudence go too far?', There is inflation and there is inflation, p. 149
Context: Inflation is bad for growth—this has become one of the most widely accepted economic nostrums of our age. But see how you feel about it after digesting the following piece of information.
During the 1960s and the 1970s, Brazil's average inflation rate was 42% a year. Despite this, Brazil was one of the fastest growing economies in the world for those two decades—its per capita income grew at 4.5% a year during this period. In contrast, between 1996 and 2005, during which time Brazil embraced the neo-liberal orthodoxy, especially in relation to macroeconomic policy, its inflation rate averaged a much lower 7.1% a year. But during this period, per capita income in Brazil grew at only 1.3% a year.
If you are not entirely persuaded by the Brazilian case—understandable, given that hyperinflation went side by side with low growth in the 1980s and the early 1990s—how about this? During its 'miracle' years, when its economy was growing at 7% a year in per capita terms, Korea had inflation rates close to 20%-17.4% in the 1960s and 19.8% in the 1970s. These were rates higher than those found in several Latin American countries... Are you still convinced that inflation is incompatible with economic success?