Isidro Maya Jariego: Redes Sociales - LRPC (Laboratorio de Redes Personales. y Comunidades)

Economic Justice in an Unfair World. Toward a Level Playing Field

Resumen:
In the summer of 2000 I attended the seminar entitled “Development in the International Political Economy” in the London School of Economics. As in other courses with a similar content around the world, Economic Development by Michael P. Todaro was the core textbook. Thousands of students have learned the basics of development with the guide of professor Todaro. This best-seller –now in its 9th Edition with the coauthorship of Stephen C. Smith- was originally published in 1977. Since the first edition, the success of the handbook is greatly based in a sincere effort to introduce the economics of development addressing the real problems of poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin-America. The book Economic Justice in an Unfair World, by Ethan B. Kapstein, follows those prescriptions of pertinence and justice that were significantly deployed in the social sciences during the 1970s. It clearly states that the “global economy operates in a way that is fundamentally unfair, particularly to developing countries and the poor within them” (p. 1). Then it confirms that “the international trade regime remains firmly tilted against developing countries in important respects” (p. 22). (...)