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Donors prioritized “industrial policy” in Asia, “social sectors” in Africa. Why?
Let me start with an anecdote. Two days ago the rainy season began in Kenya (almost a month late) and this morning the roads in the Kariobangi industrial cluster became very muddy. A truck got stuck in...
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New Structural Economics = New Development Consensus?
Probably not, the New Structural Economics won’t make it as far as becoming a new consensus in development economics. But the debate triggered by the Chief Economist of the World Bank Justin Yifu Lin...
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Industrial policy: a taboo only in Sub Saharan Africa
the 2008 global financial crisis has enhanced the legitimacy of industrial policy in a number of ways. First, the crisis prompted some major industrial policy actions – both defensive and proactive....
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How industrial policy works in real life
Taiwan, year 1983. The plan of the government consisted of 3 simple steps: Identify an imported product that you want to produce locally. Use red tape to slowdown the import of that product Let local...
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The side-effects of industrial policy in the steel sector
Interesting new paper by Bruce Blonigen from the University of Oregon: Industrial policies (IPs) include such varying practices as production subsidies, export subsidies, and import protection, and are...
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“Old” and “new” industrial policy according to Marcelo Giugale
World Bank’s Marcelo Giugale has a new article in the Huffington Post arguing that industrial policy has failed miserably in the past and that the “new industrial policy”, though better than the...
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How bad are tariffs in Africa?
Over at Foreign Policy: One living legacy [of colonialism] is a crazy quilt of trade preferences and protection buttressed by a mix of geopolitics, nostalgia, and rich-country interest group...
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Should Kenya establish a development bank?
Uhuru and Ruto wrote in the Jubilee Manifesto that they plan to establish a development Bank to “prop up the private players”. Although nobody is talking about it, and although we have no idea if that...
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