Accelerating Convergence ~ The Growth Report Policy Recommendations

Martin Wolf of the FT writes today about Useful dos and do nots for an economy set on growth, sharing the essential insights of the recently published Growth Report. As I spotlighted a month ago using Gapminder and posted as Waves of Convergence, various countries worldwide have gotten their acts together at different times and grown disproportionately in GDP/capita until they converged with the wealthiest economies. Towards the goal of intentionally accelerating convergence, Wolf highlights the practical policy recommendations of the Commission on Growth and Development...

The most important is the emphasis on growth itself, underplayed by many advisers and activists in the 1990s and early 2000s. Growth is not everything. But it is the foundation for everything. The poorer the country the more important growth becomes, partly because it is impossible to redistribute nothing and partly because higher incomes make a huge difference to the welfare of the poorest.

Wolf then summarizes the reports recommended Do and Do Not policies, plus a list of "ingredients of rapid growth." He concludes...

This report, then, should be seen as a pragmatic guide to policies for accelerating growth in developing countries.