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A review by bukukurasi
Bad Samaritans: The Guilty Secrets of Rich Nations and the Threat to Global Prosperity by Ha-Joon Chang
3.0
Compared to other Ha-Joon Chang’s books I read before (23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism and Economics the User Guide) this one is the least I enjoyed. It took me almost a year to finish it because I read other books in between.
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Similar to 23 Things and Economics, Bad Samaritans criticizes rich countries and the international organizations policies toward developing countries that tend to harm global prosperity. However, Chang’s alternative policies are similar. .
For example, Chang criticize TRIPS of the WTO since intellectual property rights will only cause limitations for people to innovate, especially those in developing countries. However, Chang said that IPR is still needed, only the period of protection should be shortened. IMHO, it will not solve a problem. .
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The 2nd problem I found within this book is that Chang tolerates a (small) corruption and dictatorship. He takes Indonesia under Soeharto as a “successful” example. What Chang did not taken into account (and many other economists) there are severe social problems that still continues 20 years after Soeharto stepped down. In numbers, Indonesia might be successful in terms of its economy, but there are huge social gap between the western and the eastern part of Indonesia.
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However, I agree with parts where Chang explains that there are no connection between culture and development. I agree that there is a need of combinatuon of ideological exhortation, policy measure to promote economic development and the institutional changes that foster the desired cultural changes. However, changing habits and/or culture takes a lot of time, and between that there will changes in politics, etc, that too will affect economic development.
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I also have a sense that Chang is actually a Keynesian, he praises Keynes a couple of time, despite the fact that there are numerous critics toward Keynes’s “recipe” to handle economic issues.
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As I mentioned in my previous post, Chang glorifies protectionism, and that it is the best policy for a country to develop.
.
Similar to 23 Things and Economics, Bad Samaritans criticizes rich countries and the international organizations policies toward developing countries that tend to harm global prosperity. However, Chang’s alternative policies are similar. .
For example, Chang criticize TRIPS of the WTO since intellectual property rights will only cause limitations for people to innovate, especially those in developing countries. However, Chang said that IPR is still needed, only the period of protection should be shortened. IMHO, it will not solve a problem. .
.
The 2nd problem I found within this book is that Chang tolerates a (small) corruption and dictatorship. He takes Indonesia under Soeharto as a “successful” example. What Chang did not taken into account (and many other economists) there are severe social problems that still continues 20 years after Soeharto stepped down. In numbers, Indonesia might be successful in terms of its economy, but there are huge social gap between the western and the eastern part of Indonesia.
.
However, I agree with parts where Chang explains that there are no connection between culture and development. I agree that there is a need of combinatuon of ideological exhortation, policy measure to promote economic development and the institutional changes that foster the desired cultural changes. However, changing habits and/or culture takes a lot of time, and between that there will changes in politics, etc, that too will affect economic development.
.
I also have a sense that Chang is actually a Keynesian, he praises Keynes a couple of time, despite the fact that there are numerous critics toward Keynes’s “recipe” to handle economic issues.
.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Chang glorifies protectionism, and that it is the best policy for a country to develop.