Trade, finance and developing countries : strategies and constraints in the 1990s /

The book can be divided roughly into two equal sections: a presentation of five case studies (Peru, Colombia, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and Malaysia) of so-called new NICs, and an evaluation of these countries' prospects given the lessons already learned from the NICs and the changing international environment. Although the volume is replete with statistics, four of the five case studies (which are written by different authors) are mostly descriptive, with fairly standard IMF-type arguments about reducing the role of the government and orienting production toward exports along comparative advantage lines. The author emphasizes the need for policy prescriptions that go beyond simply getting prices right, but her constant reference to the case studies in the second half of the book limits the overall clarity of the argument. In addition, the case studies were completed by early 1987, which renders the already tenuous discussion of strategies and constraints in the 1990s even more problematic. A better source on lessons from the NICs is Developmental States in East Asia, ed. by Gordon White et al. (CH, Dec'88). There are many books available for readers attempting to understand the international constraints on development, e.g., Debt Disaster?, ed. by John F. Weeks (CH, Apr'90). Recommended only for highly specialized collections on developing countries. -H. Stein, Roosevelt University