A USEFUL - IF RATHER OLD - BOOK

Reclaiming Development – an alternative development policy manual Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel (2004)

In the wake of the Great Western Crash of 2008, following on a long series of financial crashes since the 1980s, it should be clear that the neoclassical conceptual framework harbours systematic fallacies about how capitalist economies work. That framework generated theories which justified and celebrated the structure of Western economies – a structure which generated rising levels of financial fragility; and it occluded the impending collapse from the sight of almost all professional economists. As the self-styled queen of the social sciences, the discipline has betrayed the trust of society in its expertise and professional ethics.

What follows is a discussion of how the current mainstream builds in fallacies about how capitalist economies work and marginalizes other frameworks; which leads directly to the value of Reclaiming Development. We begin the book in Part I by presenting and rejecting the six major ‘Development Myths’ that are used to justify the neoliberal policies that have been pursued with such disastrous results in the developing world during the last quarter of a century (Chapters 1–6). Part II is the heart of the book. Here we provide activists, policymakers and students of development policy with an array of concrete policy options that are superior to their neoliberal counterparts. In these chapters we look specifically at policies towards trade and industry (Chapter 7), privatization and intellectual property rights (Chapter 8), foreign bank borrowing and portfolio and foreign direct investment (Chapter 9), domestic financial regulation (Chapter 10), and exchange rates and currencies, central banking and monetary policy, and government revenue and expenditure (Chapter 11). In each case, we explain why the neoliberal policy recommendations in these domains have failed, often with disastrous consequences for developing countries. We then counterpose an array of alternative policies that can promote faster economic development than can neoliberalism, while ensuring that it is equitable and sustainable.

We must emphasize at the outset that we present this range of proposals in the spirit of pluralism and humility. We do not share the hubris of neoliberals, and therefore do not argue that there is an ideal, single approach to ‘good’ policy. We hope that this work will contribute to the promising new search within developing countries, multilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and activist communities for alternatives to neoliberal policy regimes.

We hope that this book is an antidote to the defeatism found among many opponents of neoliberalism who do not challenge these policies, believing that there are no credible alternatives. We also hope that our book empowers those who seek concrete alternatives to neoliberal policy. Towards these ends, we present our ideas in a clear and accessible manner so that both busy policymakers and those with little formal training in economics can make use of this book. However, the book is not simply a ‘beginners’ guide’ to development policy. Professional economists will also find that our arguments are firmly grounded – even if plainly argued – in frontier research in development economics. Our greatest hope for this book is that it is useful, empowering and accessible. We hope that it stimulates discussion of the ways that development policies can be reclaimed by those seeking to promote rapid economic development around the world that is equitable, stable and sustainable.

Economics Without Illusions – debunking the myths of modern capitalism Joseph
 Heath (2009)
A book very much in the American style which fails to get to the root of 
the matter.Cooperation and Social Justice Joseph Heath (2022)
A rather philosophical discourse – consisting of separate essays without 
any attempt at a conclusion