Jake's View | Northeast Asia's development success story conceals a threadbare reality
Mr Studwell apparently argues that South Korea, Taiwan and Japan did just fine by telling the World Bank to get lost and instead reorganising their agricultural sectors, picking industrial winners to support and then manipulating their financial systems to ensure that these chosen favourites had all the money they needed.
It's hardly a liberal approach, but it's worked a treat for Asia north of the 20th parallel.
That's my colleague Tom Holland summing up his views of the latest book by big-thought thinker Joe Studwell, who says that Northeast Asia's development model is the way to go for poor countries wanting to get ahead fast.
Mr Studwell apparently argues that South Korea, Taiwan and Japan did just fine by telling the World Bank to get lost and instead reorganising their agricultural sectors, picking industrial winners to support and then manipulating their financial systems to ensure that these chosen favourites had all the money they needed.
I say "apparently" argues as I haven't read the book and must take my colleague's word it. Write it shorter next time, Joe. That's my advice. Too many people these days are writing books that should be no more than academic papers. I haven't the time for a full book on this thesis when I already have a tall stack of books I want to read.
It may thus be rank presumption to offer a critique, but I shall do it anyway as the basic arguments are not new and, in my opinion, miss a point or two.