WASHINGTON
- September 27 - With debt relief and other issues such as the environment and
transparency
dominating the IMF and World Bank meetings in Prague, relatively
little
attention has been paid to the question of economic growth. It is
commonly
believed that the economic globalization of the last two decades has
fostered economic growth. However, the official data tell a very
different story, according to a report released today by the Center
for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, DC.
"A whole generation has been lost to most of the developing world,"
said economist Mark Weisbrot, co-director of CEPR and co-author of the
report. "Twenty-years is a long time, and the policies of the IMF and
the World Bank, and other globalizing, unaccountable institutions have
clearly failed to promote economic growth."
Economic growth over the last 20 years has slowed dramatically,
especially in the less developed countries, as compared with the
previous two decades (1960-1980):
* From 1960-1980, output per person grew by an average, among
countries, of 83%. For 1980-2000, the average growth of output per
person was 33%.
* Mexico would have nearly twice as much income per person today if
not for the growth slowdown of the last two decades; Brazil would have
even more than twice its current income per person.
* In Latin America, GDP per capita grew by 75% from 1960-1980, whereas
from 1980-1998 it has risen only 6%. For sub-Saharan Africa, GDP per
capita grew by 36% in the first period, while it has since fallen by
15%.
"There is no region in the world that the IMF and the Bank can point
to as a success story for their policies," said Weisbrot. "And in some
places-- such as Russia, which lost half of its income in the 1990's--
they have presided over economic collapses that have never been seen
in the absence of war or a major natural disaster."
The report, including tables and graphs, also discusses the impact of
globalization on American workers. The real median wage today is about
the same as it was 27 years ago, meaning that the majority of the US
labor force has failed to share in the gains from economic growth over
the last 27 years.
For more information contact CEPR or read the report at www.cepr.net
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