The Political Economy of Growth [antikvár]

The manuscript of the present volume was completed in the autumn of 1955. Much that has since happened in the world bears a direct relation to a number of themes dealt with here. Resisting for obvious reasons the strong temptation to insert some of the relevant considera-tions into the galley proofs, I decided to attempt to summarize them briefly in this preface. The events in the Near East which culminated in the Anglo-French military action against Egypt provide corroboration of one of the main theses of this book: the "unreformed" nature of contemporary imperialism and its inherent animosity towards all genuine initiative at economie development on the part of the underdeveloped countries. The role played in this conflict by the United States demonstrates the unabated rivalry among the imperialist countries as well as the grow-ing inability of the old imperialist nations to hold their own in face of the American quest for expanded influence and power. In the bitter words of the London Economist: "We must learn that we are not the Americans' equals now, and cannot be. We have a right to state our minimum national interests and expect the Americans to respect them. But this done, we must look for their lead." (November 17, 1956.) While the assertion of American supremacy in the "free" world implies the reduction of Britain and France (not to speak of Belgium, Holland, and Portugal) to the status of junior partners of American imperialism, this shift may well have certain favorable consequences for the underdeveloped countries. Transferring as it were from service in an impoverished business to employment in a prosperous enterprise, the colonial and dependent countries may expect their new principal to be less rapacious, more generous, and more forward-looking. Although it is most doubtful whether this change will make any serious difference in the basic issues of economie and social development in the backward areas, some improvement in their fate is not unlikely. Recent developments in the socialist countries of Europe are even