Bad Samaritans The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism

by Chang, Ha-Joon

• ISBN13: 9781596913998
• ISBN10: 1596913991
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-26
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Press

Summary

A rising young star in the field of economics attacks the free-trade orthodoxy ofThe World Is Flathead-ona crisp, contrarian history of global capitalism. One economist has called Ha-Joon Chang "the most exciting thinker our profession has turned out in the past fifteen years." With Bad Samaritans, this provocative scholar bursts into the debate on globalization and economic justice. Using irreverent wit, an engagingly personal style, and a battery of examples, Chang blasts holes in the "World Is Flat" orthodoxy of Thomas Friedman and other liberal economists who argue that only unfettered capitalism and wide-open international trade can lift struggling nations out of poverty. On the contrary, Chang shows, today's economic superpowersfrom the U.S. to Britain to his native Koreaall attained prosperity by shameless protectionism and government intervention in industry. We have conveniently forgotten this fact, telling ourselves a fairy tale about the magic of free trade andvia our proxies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organizationramming policies that suit ourselves down the throat of the developing world. Unlike typical economists who construct models of how the marketplaceshouldwork, Chang examines the past: what has actually happened. His pungently contrarian history demolishes one pillar after another of free-market mythology. We treat patents and copyrights as sacrosanctbut developed our own industries by studiously copying others' technologies. We insist that centrally planned economies stifle growthbut many developing countries had higher GDP growth before they were pressured into deregulating their economies. Both justice and common sense, Chang argues, demand that we reevaluate the policies we force on nations that are struggling to follow in our footsteps.

Author Biography

Ha-Joon Chang has taught at the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, since 1990. He has consulted for numerous international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. He has published eleven books, including Kicking Away the Ladder, winner of the 2003 Myrdal Prize. In 2005, Chang was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.

Table of Contents

Prologue : Mozambique's economic miracle : how to escape poverty	p. 1
The Lexus and the olive tree revisited : myths and facts about globalization	p. 19
The double life of Daniel Defoe : how did the rich countries become rich?	p. 40
My six-year-old son should get a job : is free trade always the answer?	p. 65
The Finn and the elephant : should we regulate foreign investment?	p. 84
Man exploits man : private enterprise good, public enterprise bad?	p. 103
Windows 98 in 1997 : is it wrong to 'borrow' ideas?	p. 122
Mission impossible? : can financial prudence go too far?	p. 145
Zaire vs Indonesia : should we turn our backs on corrupt and undemocratic countries?	p. 160
Lazy Japanese and thieving Germans : are some cultures incapable of economic development?	p. 182
Epilogue : Sao Paulo, October 2037 : can things get better?	p. 203
Notes	p. 223
Index	p. 267
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