Customer Reviews

Structural Conflict: The Third World Against Global Liberalism (Studies in International Political Economy, 12)

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This not a famous books in economics and economic-sociology for nothing.

Absolute useful to understand the social and political pressures involved in international negotiations

This is an interesting book about the international tension between rich and poor countries during the 1960s and 1970s, even if it never gets to clearly state the problem. Poor countries often oppose free trade and foreign investment because the governmetns of these countries own and operate most businesses. They want to maintain their secure economic position; what they don't want is competiton. For international competition would almost certainly put government-run enterpises out of business.

So justifications are invented for economically sealing one's country off from the rest of the world. Some highfalutin phrases and indignation are thrown around (e.g., "unequal exchange," "exploitation") and, in the meantime, the governments of these countries continue to impoverish their populations by charging high prices, like monopolistic producers they are. The problem is not the conflict between rich and poor countries; the problem is autocratic rulers of poor countries who, while preaching the gospel of equality, brutally repress their populations, overcharge, take bribes, and hide their wealth in Western banks.