Gunnar Myrdal published Asian Drama in 1968, a work which made important analytical contributions to our understanding of development but was deeply pessimistic about Asia's future prospects. Since then, contrary to Myrdal's expectations, Asia's development has been remarkable, although...

This paper outlines the contours of global economic development, since 1980, to analyse underlying factors and consider future implications. The increased economic significance of developing countries, reflected in their share of world output, manufacturing and trade, is striking. But...

This paper seeks to analyze the prospects for development in a changed international context, where globalization has diminished the policy space so essential for countries that are latecomers to development. The main theme is that, to use the available policy space for development, it is...

Purpose – This essay aims to analyze the process of structural adjustment in developing countries. Its focus is on macroeconomic stabilization in the short‐term, but the analysis is situated in a wider context to consider how it relates to the implications of structural reform in the...

This paper seeks to develop an understanding of the factors that made reforms possible and analyse the lessons that emerge from the experience. The external debt crisis allowed the reforms to be introduced, while the changed international context supported the process. The lessons learnt are...

This paper sketches a picture, with broad strokes on a wide canvas, of thinking about, and outcomes in, development during the second half of the 20th Century, to stress the importance of learning and “unlearning” from experience. In doing so, it questions the caricature distinctions between...