Anthony D'Costa
Thu, 14 Sep 2000 21:00:49 -0700
I do not think Amsden's "getting prices wrong" is not applicable to Peronist Argentina. The South Korean state and Peron's Argentina, both intervened in the economy, thus deliberately got prices wrong (as opposed to getting prices right with well functioning markets). The main difference between S Korea and Argentina, among others, is the nature of state intervention. In the former subsidy for exports was tied to performance (to enhance national capitalist development), in the latter ISI wa pursued to enhance national capitalist development. However, why the nature of intervention has been different in the two countries is a long story and I am afraid economists do not have the monopoly of an adequate explanation. Cheers, Anthony xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Anthony P. D'Costa, Associate Professor Comparative International Development University of Washington Campus Box 358436 1900 Commerce Street Tacoma, WA 98402, USA Phone: (253) 692-4462 Fax : (253) 692-5718 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Thu, 14 Sep 2000, Brad DeLong wrote: > >I have never seen as concise description of social democracy. I like Alice > >Amsden's refutation of your perspective -- especially her praise of > >getting prices > >wrong. > > > >Brad De Long wrote: > > > >> > >> in a mixed economy, the government > >> should be used to redistribute income and the market used to allocate > >> resources; to get things backward--as Peron did, using the government > >> to allocate resources and regulating market prices to redistribute > >> income--doesn't work. > >> > > > >-- > >Michael Perelman > > Since you have read Amsden, you know that the policies that she > recommends are the complete opposite of those that Peron pursued. > Amsden believes in subsidizing exports. Peron taxed them. Amsden > believes in making it easy for export-oriented companies to acquire > the hard currency they need to buy capital goods. Peron made it > impossible for export-oriented companies to purchase foreign-made > capital goods. Amsden believes in an undervalued exchange rate to > promote exports and increase employment. Peron believed in using > exchange controls to maintain an overvalued exchange rate to maximize > terms of trade. > > In my view, there is a lot of truth in Amsden's "getting prices > wrong" position. But as you know, her judgment of Peronist policies > is much, much harsher and much, much more negative than mine. > > > Brad DeLong > >