Brad DeLong:
>Dominican Rep. 5.8%
As I have stated repeatedly, these GDP figures, stripped of historical and
social context, are utterly useless. There are one million Dominicans in
the USA and 8.2 million in their homeland. No other country in this
hemisphere has a higher emigration rate to the US. You also have to factor
in population growth. If the GDP increased by 5.8 percent, while population
grew at 4.8 percent you end up with a totally different picture.
In fact, the May 12, 1998 LA Times reported that GDP growth. "mostly has
been in financial sectors that create few jobs and touch few middle-class
lives, let alone the 60% of Dominicans who live in extreme poverty."
What we are dealing with here is not objective economics, but Dr. Pangloss
in a time-machine.
Louis Proyect
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