The Economic North-South Divide

Since the 1940s, development thinking has been the subject of fierce debate and continual evolution. The authors of this book trace the ideas that have driven changing approaches to development, focusing also on the Prebisch-Singer Thesis, which seeks to explain the widening gaps between rich and poor nations, caused by unequal distribution of trade benefits. They discuss both aid during and after the cold war, and the rise and subsequent liberalisation crisis of the Asian 'Tiger Economies'.

The Economic North-South Divide goes on to explore the structural roots of the debt crisis and considers the impact of debt management on North-South economic relations, exposing certain double standards that tilt global markets further against the South. Encouraged by recent successful opposition to neoliberalism, the authors finally propose ideas for a world where people seem to matter.

This book is a welcome addition to the debate and will appeal to anyone interested in economic development and history.

Kunibert Raffer, formerly Professor, Department of Economics, University of Vienna, Austria and the late H.W. Singer, formerly Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK