José Antonio Ocampo Trade and Finance in Development Thinking

This chapter summarizes the controversies on trade and finance in relation to developing countries as they have evolved since the Second World War. It shows the significant divergences among schools of development thought as to the role of the global system versus national policies in determining development success, and between those who defend the virtues of markets versus those who consider that development is intrinsically tied to some forms of state intervention. It follows a historical sequence, from what it terms the “industrialization consensus ” of the early post-war years through the rise of newly-industrialized countries (NICs) as exporters of manufactures, to the “Washington consensus ” and the most recent challenges associated to the rise of China and the recent slowdown of international trade. Through thi