Description
Gunnar Myrdal might be called the Adam Smith of poverty. Here he supplements Asian Drama, in which he exposed the true facts of underdevelopment, with a statement of logical policies to be followed by the developed and underdeveloped countries alike.
Professor Myrdal finds the diplomatic silences and optimistic bias of the postwar (or post- colonial) approach in economics highly unscientific. Racial inferiority and southern idleness may not be admissible factors: nevertheless productivity in underdeveloped countries may well be lessened by low living standards and climatic conditions. Traditional institutions and attitudes and widespread corruption are other factors which cannot be politely ignored in framing plans.
In pursuit of modernization ideals' - to improve life and offset population growth economists everywhere will have to look beyond the purely economic field. Education, leading to cultural and political change, needs to be fostered.
Professor Myrdal devotes a large section of the book to the responsibility which falls on the developed countries, which must learn to examine the real and observable facts about poorer nations and stop mumbling in the sophisticated jargon of the Western market.
SBN:9780394711706
