e 1960s, are now much higher. That remains true despite the losses suffered in East Asia in the 1997/98 crisis, illustrating the long term benefits of purposeful integration into the global economy (Carruthers, 93).
The important impediments to stronger growth, are poor infrastructure, a high cost of capital, and persistent fiscal imbalances -- all of which have dampened investment spending by the private sector. In addition, growth is being hampered by relatively low rates of foreign direct investment and a tendency to waste precious tax revenues on unproductive subsidies rather than worthwhile investments in, for example, primary education and health care. All these obstacles, and more, need to be tackled (Currey, 258).
Globalization is an unavoidable process which is taking place independent of us. It forces us to cope with it. There is not room in a globalized world for an economy delinked from world trade and foreign investment. The truth is that if we do not reform rapidly, and position ourselves to compete, we will be marginalized. Globalization is a process that over the past 50 years has contributed to a bigger rise in living standards for more people around the world than has been achieved in any other comparable period in human history. The process should be embraced, purposefully, cautiously, with the appropriate safeguards, but embraced nonetheless (Carruthers, 95).
Take the critical area of openness to international trade. We have taken important strides in trade liberalization in recent years, including significant cuts in tariffs and the removal of quantitative restrictions. Those measures helped improve the country's economic performance during the nineties. But tariffs remain very high by international standards, and the authorities frequently resort to anti dumping measures (Huang, 166).
Both sound economic policies and investment in people are essential: for poverty reduction, employment growth, and s...