Overview
- Interweaves the author's personal experience in working in developing countries
- Succinctly explains the evolution in thinking about topics such as economic growth models, international trade theory, the dirigiste dogma, Hirschman’s dissenting views, and Myrdal’s circular cumulative causation
- Touches upon contemporary issues such as the trade war between the US and China and the latest Sustainable Development Goals and population issues
- Includes an overview of the first generation of development economists and beyond, development theories in the Marxist tradition, and views of contemporary commentators such as Edward Luce and Bruno Macaes
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Developing world
- Development economics
- Development aid history
- History of thought of development economics
- Middle income trap
- Third World
- Ethics of development aid
- Politics of development aid
- Economic geography of development
- International trade, globalisation and development
- World Bank
- East Asian Miracle
- Washington Consensus
- development aid
- development policy
About this book
How can the successful development of some former Third World countries be explained, while other developing countries have remained stagnant or worse, have deteriorated into failed states? This book offers a history of the economics of development. De Haan examines how the right mix of policies and evolving insights in development economics have impacted certain countries with the progression from low-income to middle-income, and even high-income status. In particular middle-income countries encounter hindrances to transit into high-income countries. The challenges of low-income countries and those of fragile and failed states is elaborated as well.
Due attention is given to successive generations of development economists, economic growth models and international trade theories to provide academic background to the evolution or stagnation of developing countries. The author’s own experience in development aid is woven into the text, making this book important and entertaining reading for researchers, students of development economics, international trade and international aid.
Reviews
“Peter de Haan's new book is a comprehensive and entertaining tool to understand how people and institutions devised development paths through time. His economics academic insights combined with international field experience provide a brilliant grasp of a challenging matter.” (Eduardo Rodriguez-Veltze; Former President of Bolivia. La Paz, Bolivia)
“Economic development, international trade and globalisation are such vast fields that it takes an excellent guide as Peter de Haan to understand their meaning and relevance for the Third World. Adding his personal experience, he lively describes how the developing world fared, how successive generations in development economics looked at it, and how they explained what happened. Experts, students and practitioners alike will enjoy this sparklingly written book.” (Arie Kuyvenhoven, Professor Emeritus of Development Economics, Wageningen University, and Visiting Professor, Nanjing Agricultural University, China)
“...Peter de Haan, drawing from his rich life-long experience working on the field as a diplomat and development expert, has written a fascinating book on the development and evolution of the economics of development. This very readable intellectual journey should be a required reading for policy makers, politicians, and students of economic development and the century-long fight on poverty, for an illuminating insight into this fascinating field of human endeavor. Delightful reading!” (Ronald MacLean-Abaroa, Former Minister of Finance, Sustained Development, and Foreign Affairs, and four-term elected Mayor of La Paz, Bolivia)"De Haan bravely brings the whole development history of humankind in front of our eyes to illustrate that development is more than a field; it is a history that needs more than one singular answer. To sum up with his own words: “The overall conclusion must be that economists, while explaining a lot about economic growth, should not pretend to have all the answers”. De Haan here gives a clear message to the economists who focused only on the growth and nothing but the growth in order to broaden their horizon as development covers more than economic variables. From my point of view, this book provides a comprehensive interdisciplinary perspective that is going to widen people’s knowledge about economic development. I highly recommend this book for academics, post-graduate students, even for the people who work at non-governmental organizations." (Elif Kaya; Ph D. candidate Development Economics; University of Istanbul, Turkey)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Peter de Haan has worked for forty years in development. First as a Junior Professional Officer at the Pacific Regional Office of the United Nations Development Programme, after which he was appointed Asia Bureau Chief at the Dutch Non-Governmental Organisation NOVIB (now merged with Oxfam). Subsequently, he briefly managed the European Office of Inter Press Service, a Third World news agency. De Haan was then appointed Senior Institutional Development Advisor at the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation, followed by his postings at the Netherlands’ Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, and – subsequently - Lusaka, Zambia. He has written various books about development and economics; the latest one being From Keynes to Piketty: The Century that Shook up Economics, published in 2016 by Palgrave Macmillan. De Haan is a member of the Royal Netherlands Economic Association and the Bolivian Academy of Economic Science.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Whatever Happened to the Third World?
Book Subtitle: A History of the Economics of Development
Authors: Peter de Haan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39613-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-39612-1Published: 30 June 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-39615-2Published: 30 June 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-39613-8Published: 29 June 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 324
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations
Topics: Development Economics, Development Aid, Development Policy, History of Economic Thought/Methodology, Economic History, Economic Policy