Economic Growth and Development: A Comparative Discussion
April 03, 2015
Book titled Economic Growth and Development: A Comparative Discussion by Dr. Matthew McCartney from Oxford University was launched by the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (GIDS) of the Lahore School of Economics on March 24, 2015.
Dr. McCartney was accompanied by a group of PhD Scholars from Oxford University who were visiting the Lahore School of Economics under a PhD student exchange program (under which a group of Economics PhD students from the Lahore School of Economics had already visited Oxford University).
Dr. Rashid Amjad, the Director of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies introduced Dr. Matthew McCartney and his work and also discussed the importance of understanding development as not only an issue related to economic growth but also an issue related to human development.
Dr. McCartney then discussed how his new book was a cross-country comparison of development that looked at both the proximate determinants of economic growth as well as the deeper determinants of development. Dr. McCartney stressed that economics and economists tend to myopically look at economic growth as the single most important factor in development while ignoring critical issues like inequality, geographical and cultural factors, colonialism, institutions and the openness of markets and borders. Dr. McCartney then made the case that long-standing inequalities between countries should be the primary focus for academic study, and that development plans should be produced on a case-by-case basis, reflecting the individual circumstances of countries and regions. Using a wide range of historical and contemporary examples, he highlights the blind spots and assumptions that are liable to compromise the priorities and actions of policy-makers, and provides a route towards effective economic reform and sustained development.
The seminar was attended by Dr. Azam Chaudhry, Professor and Dean, Department of Economics, Lahore School of Economics, a group of visiting PhD Scholars from the University of Oxford and faculty and students from the Lahore School of Economics. The session included an interactive question and answer session in which the participants discussed the importance of the book in the context of Pakistan as well as how economics can evolve to incorporate the issues raised in Dr. McCartney’s book.
Labels: Books, Lahore School, Oxford University, Publications
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/03/2015 06:00:00 PM,
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