Globalization, Economic Development and Inequality

An Alternative Perspective

New Horizons in Institutional and Evolutionary Economics series

Edited by Erik S. Reinert, Professor of Technology Governance and Development Strategies, Taltech, Estonia, and Honorary Professor, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), London, UK

The expert contributors gathered here approach underdevelopment and inequality from different evolutionary perspectives. It is argued that the Schumpeterian processes of ‘creative destruction’ may take the form of wealth creation in one part of the globe and wealth destruction in another. Case studies explore and analyse the successful 19th century policies that allowed Germany and the United States to catch up with the UK and these are contrasted with two other case studies exploring the deindustrialization and falling real wages in Peru and Mongolia during the 1990s. The case studies and thematic papers together explore, identify and explain the mechanisms which cause economic inequality. Some papers point to why the present form of globalization increases poverty in many Third World nations.

‘This book offers a very interesting alternative approach to studying the impacts of globalization and would be a useful resource for researchers as well as postgraduate students (and perhaps advanced undergraduate students) of evolutionary economics, eco nomic geography and international trade . It will also be of interest to policymakers and members of international organizations (including the so-called Washington Institutions!).’
– Dimitris Ballas, Economic Issues