Introduction

Be they developed countries or countries that have recently attained remarkable economic development levels, like those in Asia, their experiences show that they pursued the final, intermediate and operating goals described in detail in Part Two of this book in a voluntary and determined manner. Even if contemporary literature on these experiences does not structure the presentation of policies carried out and measures taken by these countries on the different goals that I just described, a careful reading of this literature enables us to realize that the specific measures of economic policy that it describes are guided and inspired by the firm wish to attain these goals. In this chapter, I will briefly present the pertinent points of these experiences.

Asian Emerging Countries

In his study on possible lessons to be drawn from the experience of East Asian countries, the Nobel laureate in economics Joseph E. Stiglitz notes that all these countries demonstrated a genuine wish to develop a national capacity to produce a varied range of manufactured goods, which corresponds to a commitment to the intermediate goal of building national productive capacities that I have identified in this book.