WASHINGTON — For 25 years, the so-called Washington Consensus — comprising measures aimed at expanding the role of markets and constraining the role of the state — has dominated economic development policy. As John Williamson, who coined the term, put it in 2002, these measures "are motherhood and apple pie, which is why they commanded a consensus."
Not anymore. Dani Rodrik, a renowned Harvard University economist, is the latest to challenge the intellectual foundations of the Washington Consensus in a powerful new book titled "One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth." Rodrik's thesis is that though there is only one economics, there are many recipes for development success.
Rodrik has rendered a major service by stating so openly the claim of "one economics." A critic who made the same claim that economics allows only one theoretical approach would be dismissed as paranoid, whereas Rodrik's standing creates an opportunity for a debate that would not otherwise be possible.
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