SEBASTIAN ORAFAGA BII
Department of Economics,
College of Education,
Katsina-Ala.
e-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
This is a review of a book titled Kicking Away the Ladder, in which Ha-Joon Chang, the author, discussed how the now developed countries became wealthy and what lessons this should provide for establishing a suitable framework for developing countries today. His historical analysis shows rather convincingly that the now-developed countries used largely employed interventionist policies to grow, and that their institutions were poorly developed when they themselves were developing countries. In fact, today’s developing countries are fewer protectionists and have better institutions than the now-developed countries had at comparable stages of development. The work concludes that the current framework in effect “Kicks away the ladder” the now developed countries used to achieve wealth and prosperity.
Key Words: Free Trade, Protectionism, Institutions Policy, Infant Industry, Prosperity, Economic, Development.