Imperialism and global inequality: A critical analysis
PDF

Keywords

Global inequality
Catching-up
International trade.

How to Cite

SIDDIQUI, K. (2018). Imperialism and global inequality: A critical analysis. Journal of Economics and Political Economy, 5(2), 266–291. https://doi.org/10.1453/jepe.v5i2.1638

Abstract

Abstract. The article intends to analyse economic changes between advance and less-developed countries and the issues of catching up. Our approach would be to analyse the evolution of developing countries (less-developed) in the world economy in a historical perspective. The important question for 21st century is whether the regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America would be able to catch or not? To answer this we need an understanding of both economics and history, which seems to be critical for a fuller picture on this issue. There have been on-going discussions about a sharp contrast in the international distribution of wealth between the rich (industrialised) and poor (primary producing) countries and it has been emphasised that the benefit of technical progress in the advanced economies would trickle down to the poor countries. The study finds that during the last three decades, there have been huge economic changes taking place globally and structural changes and patterns of trade have also taken place both in advance and developing countries. However, some developing countries have achieved faster growth rates than the advanced economies, particularly China, India, Indonesia and Turkey. However, they constitute a small numbers among the developing countries, but accounts large number of its population. The study concludes that most poor countries have not been able to converge, while largely the two largest ones, namely China and India have experienced rapid growth rates and economic changes in recent decades.

Keywords. Global inequality, Catching-up, International trade.

JEL. P45, O47.
https://doi.org/10.1453/jepe.v5i2.1638
PDF

References

Alam, M.S. (1994). Colonialism, decolonisation and growth rate: Theory and empirical evidence, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 18, 235-257. doi. 10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035272

Amsden, A. (2007). Escape from Empire: The Developing World’s Journey through Heaven and Hell, Cambridge Mass: MIT Press.

Amsden, A. (2001). The Rise of “the Rest”: Challenges to the West from the Late Industrialising Countries, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anievas, A., & Nisancioglu, K. 2015. How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism, London: Pluto Press.

Arrighi, G. (2007). Adam Smith in Beijing Lineages of the 21st Century, pp. 136, New York: Verso

Bagchi, A.K. (2010). Colonialism and the Indian Economy, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Bagchi, A.K. (1984). The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bairoch, P. (1993). Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Madison, A. (1983). A comparison of levels of GDP per capita in advanced and developing countries: 1700-1980, Journal of Economic History, 43(1), 27-41. doi. 10.1017/S0022050700028965

Baran, P.A. (1957). The Political Economy of Growth, New York: Monthly Review Press.

Becker, G.S., Murphy K.M., & Tamura, R. (1990). Human capital fertility and economic growth, Journal of Political Economy, 98(5), S12-37. doi. 10.1086/261723

Cain, P.J. (2006). Character and Imperialism: The British Financial Administration of Egypt, 1878-1914, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 34(2), 177-200. doi. 10.1080/03086530600633405

Chang, H.J. (2002). Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective, London, Anthem Press.

Davis, M. (2001). Late Victorian Holocausts, London: Verso

Economist, (2014) London, 13th September. Accessed on 8 July 2017. [Retrieved from].

Edwards, S. (1998). Openness, productivity and growth: what do we really know?, Economic Journal, 108(447), 383-398. doi. 10.1111/1468-0297.00293

Engels, F. ([1880]1990). Protection and Free Trade. Preface to Speech of the Question of Free Tarde, by Karl Marx. In the Collected Works of Marx and Engels, vol.26, 521-36. New York: International Publishers.

Findlay, R. (1984). Growth and development of trade models, in R. Jones, & P. Kenen, Handbook of International Economics, Vol.1, Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Frank, A.G. (1971). Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America, New York: Penguin.

Frankopan. P. (2015). The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, London: Bloomsbury

Ghose, A.K. (2004). Global inequality and international trade, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 28(2), 229-252. doi. 10.1093/cje/28.2.229

Girdner, E.J., & Siddiqui, K. (2008). Neoliberal globalization, poverty creation and environmental degradation in developing countries, International Journal of Environment and Development, 5(1), 1-27.

Harris, K. (2016). Making and unmaking of the greater Middle East, New Left Review, No.101, 5-34.

Hyndman, M.H. (1919). The Awakening Asia, London: Cassell & Co.

IMF, (2016). World Economic Outlook, various years, IMF. Washington DC.

Jacques, M. (2012). When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order, 2nd Edition. London: Penguin Books.

Kuznets, S.(1971). Economic Growth of Nations, Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Landes, D. (1969). The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe since 1750 to the Present, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lewis, A. (1954). Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour, Manchester: The Manchester School.

List, F. (1966). The National System of Political Economy, Augustus Kelley: New York.

Little, I.M.D., Scitovsky, T., & Scott, M. (1970). Industry and Trade in some Developing countries: A Comparative Study, London: Oxford University Press.

Maddison, A. (2003). The World Economy: Historical Statistics, Paris: OECD.

Maddison, A. (1998).Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run, Development Centre, Paris: OECD.

Marx, K. (1992). Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production, Vol.1, pp.708, London: Penguin Classics (first published 1848).

Nayyar, D. (2013). Catch Up: Developing Countries in the World Economy, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Parthasarathi, P. (2011). Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600-1850, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Perkins, J. (2006). Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: The Shocking Story of how America Really Took Over the World, New York: Penguin

Pilger, J. (2002). The New Rulers of the World, London: Verso.

Pomeranz, K. (2000). The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Pritchett, L. (1996). Forget convergence: Divergence past, present and future, Finance and Development, 33(2). 40-43.

Rodrik, D. (2011). The Globalization Paradox: Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy Can't Coexist, New York: Oxford University Press.

Rowthorn, R.E. (2008). The renaissance of China and India, in P. Arestis, & J. Eatwell. (Eds.) Issues in Economic Development and Globalization: Essay in Honour of Ajit Singh, London: Palgrave.

Saville, J. (1969). Primitive accumulation and early industrialisation in Britain, in R. Miliband & J. Saville (Eds.) The Socialist Register, Merlin Press.

Siddiqui, K. (2018a). The political economy of India's post-planning economic reform: A critical review, World Review of Political Economy, 9(1), forthcoming.

Siddiqui, K. (2018b). David Ricardo’s comparative advantage and developing countries: Myth and reality, International Critical Thought, 8(2), forthcoming.

Siddiqui. K. (2017a). The Bolshevik Revolution and the collapse of the colonial system in India, International Critical Thought, 7(3), 418-437. doi. 10.1080/21598282.2017.1355743

Siddiqui, K. (2017b). Financialization and economic policy: The issues of capital control in the developing countries, World Review of Political Economy, 8(4), 564-590. doi. 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.8.4.0564

Siddiqui. K. (2017c). Hindutva, neoliberalism and the reinventing of India, Journal of Economic and Social Thought, 4(2), 142-186.

Siddiqui, K. (2017d). Globalization, trade liberalisation and the issues of economic diversification in the developing countries, Journal of Business & Economic Policy, 4(4), 1-16.

Siddiqui. K. (2016a). International trade, WTO and economic development, World Review of Political Economy, 7(4), 424-450. doi. 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.7.4.0424

Siddiqui. K. (2016b). A study of Singapore as a developmental state, in Y.-C. Kim (Ed), Chinese Global Production Networks in ASEAN, (pp.157-188), London: Springer.

Siddiqui, K. (2016c). Will the growth of the BRICs cause a shift in the global balance of economic power in the 21st Century?, International Journal of Political Economy, 45(4), 315-338. doi. 10.1080/08911916.2016.1270084

Siddiqui, K. (2015a). Trade liberalisation and economic development: A critical review, International Journal of Political Economy, 44(3), 228-247. doi. 10.1080/08911916.2015.1095050

Siddiqui, K . (2015b). Political economy of Japan’s decades long economic stagnation, Equilibrium Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 10(4), 9-39. doi. 10.12775/ EQUIL.2015.033

Siddiqui, K. (2015c). Perils and challenges of Chinese economic development, International Journal of Social and Economic Research, 5(1), 1-56. doi. 10.5958/2249-6270.2015.00001.X

Siddiqui, K. (2014). Growth and crisis in India’s political economy from 1991 to 2013, International Journal of Social and Economic Research, 4(2), 84-99. doi. 10.5958/2249-6270.2014.00487.5

Siddiqui, K. (2012). Developing countries experience with neoliberalism and globalisation, Research in Applied Economics, 4(4), 12-37. doi. 10.5296/rae.v4i4.2878

Siddiqui, K. (2012). Malaysia’s socio-economic transformation in historical perspective, International Journal of Business and General Management, 1(2), 21-50.

Siddiqui, K. (2010). Globalisation and neo-liberal economic reforms in India: A critical review, in S.K. Pramanick & R. Ganguly (Eds), Globalization in India: New Frontiers and Emerging Challenges, (pp.219-243), New Delhi: Prentice Hall.

Siddiqui, K. (2009). The political economy of growth in China and India, Journal of Asian Public Policy, 1(2), 17-35. doi. 10.1080/17516230902734528

Siddiqui, K. (1998). The export of agricultural commodities, poverty and ecological crisis: A case study of Central American Countries, Economic and Political Weekly, 33(39), A128-A137.

Siddiqui, K. (1996). Growth of modern industries under colonial regime: Industrial development in British India between 1900 and 1946, Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 17(1), 11-59.

Siddiqui, K. (1990). Historical roots of mass poverty in India, in C.A. Thayer, J. Camilleri, & K. Siddiqui (Eds), Trends and Strains, (pp.59-76), New Delhi: Peoples Publishing House.

Siddiqui, K. (1989). Colonialism, hunger and backwardness in the developing countries, Materialisten, 3(4), 111-135.

Siwach, G. (2016). Trade liberalisation and income convergence: Evidence from developing countries, Economic and Political Weekly, 51(22), 115-120.

Smith, A. (1937). An Inquiry into the nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, New York: The Modern Library (originally published in 1776).

Solow, R. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65-94. doi. 10.2307/1884513

Stavrianos, L.S. (1981) Global Rift, New York: William Morrow & Co.

Stiglitz, J., & Charlton, A. (2006). Fair Trade for All, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stiglitz, J. (1989). On the economic role of state, in A. Heertje (Ed), The Economic Role of the State, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Toye, J., & Toye, R. (2003). The origins and interpretation of the Prebisch-Singer thesis, History of Political Economy, 35(3), 437-467. doi. 10.1215/00182702-35-3-437

UNCTAD, (2016). Key Statistics and Trends in International Trade, Secretariat calculations based on UNCTAD Stat data. Accessed on 20 April 2018. [Retrieved from].

UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation). (2016). Industrial Development Report, pp.34-35, New York. Accessed on 22 June 2017. [Retrieved from].

Venugopal, R. (2015). Neoliberalism as a concept, Economy and Society, 44(2), 165-187. doi. 10.1080/03085147.2015.1013356

Wood, A. (1998). Globalization and the rise in labour market inequalities, Economic Journal, 108(450), 1463-1482. doi. 10.1111/1468-0297.00354

Creative Commons License
This article licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (4.0)

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.