Re: Krugman on good news

[Michael Pollak <mpollak@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003, Krugman was quoted saying

> Now we know that the club isn't that exclusive, after all. South Korea and
> several smaller Asian economies have made a full transition to modernity.
> China is still a poor country, but it has made astonishing progress. And
> there are signs of an economic takeoff in at least parts of India. I'm not
> talking about arid economic statistics; what we've seen over the past
> generation is an enormous, unexpected improvement in the human condition.
>
> How was this improvement achieved? Whenever I give talks about my latest
> book, someone asks whether I still believe in free trade. The answer is
> yes - not because I have any fond feelings about multinational
> corporations, but because every one of those development success stories
> was based on export-led growth.

India wasn't.  Exports are 10% of its economy, like the US.

So of the only two examples that really matter for the global proportion
of poor people stats, one is wrong.  Talk about drawing a curve through
one point.

Michael