Turnaround: Third World Lessons for First World Growth

Economist Henry, dean of NYU’s Stern School of Business, tackles international macroeconomics—a hot topic among economists looking for policies to manage the debt-troubled world financial system and reverse global underperformance. Henry suggests the Third World can help guide the First World to economic recovery, if the highly industrialized world can adopt the “discipline it needs to internalize” Third World economic lessons discussed here. This premise is a stretch, but Henry does show how developing nations sometimes exhibit or are coerced into greater economic realism than G-8 countries. Henry’s survey reveals indispensable growth strategies, above all, shrinking debt and removing barriers to trade. In addition, he analyzes “inhibited investment,” “cold turkey” austerity programs, and curbing inflation. China’s “catch-up economics” and Chile’s strong-minded fiscal responsibility, benefiting the country after the 2008 global collapse, no doubt provide cautionary tales for G-8 countries. But neither nation qualifies as Third World. Henry’s efforts to draw sharp, convincing policy parallels between the Third and First World lag in a scattered conclusion. However, this readable volume still contains enough insight into global affairs and international economics to attract readers beyond universities and think tanks. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Mar.)