Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Shortlisted for the 2018 Africa-Asia ICAS Book Prize, International Convention of Asia Scholars and Association for Asian Studies in Africa"
"An instructive look at how countries have to start growing before the right institutional framework is in place, and how they can get around that. . . . One of the better books on developing economies in the last few years."
---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution"In their terrific new book,
Beating the Odds: Jump-Starting Developing Countries, Justin Yifu Lin and Célestin Monga give the best overview account I've read of how countries might begin to achieve the lift-off from poverty trajectory, and an outline of how in practical terms governments might go about it. And although directed at poor countries, their analysis is more general." * Enlightened Economist *
"Lin . . . and Monga . . . bring to bear their considerable scholarly credentials and practical know-how in this iconoclastic treatment of economics development in poor countries." * Foreign Affairs *
"Passionately written and rigorous in its exposition, this book provides an excellent summary of what is wrong with contemporary development literature. . .a must-read for students of development economics."
---Rahul A. Sirohi, Economic & Political WeeklyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction: The Art of Engineering Prosperity in Unlikely Places 1 1 The Tyranny of Litanies 20 2 Unpleasant Truths about Institutional and Financial Development 44 3 The Economics of Chance: Policy Prescriptions as Laundry Lists 75 4 The Mechanics of Failure and the Secrets of Success 111 5 Ambitious Pragmatism: First-Order Economic Principles 157 6 The Art of Performing Economic Miracles: Implementation Guidelines 202 7 Reaping the Dividends of Globalization: A Winning Road Map 254 Conclusion: Making the Most of Existing Circumstances 310 Notes 321 References 341 Index 367
