BRICS or Bust?: Escaping the Middle-Income Trap - Softcover

Elsenhans, Hartmut; Babones, Salvatore

 
9780804799898: BRICS or Bust?: Escaping the Middle-Income Trap
Softcover
ISBN 10: 080479989X ISBN 13: 9780804799898
Publisher: Stanford Briefs, 2017

Synopsis

Once among the fastest developing economies, growth has slowed or stalled in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. What policies can governments enact to jump-start the rise of these middle-income countries? Hartmut Elsenhans and Salvatore Babones argue that economic catch-up requires investment in the productivity of ordinary citizens.

Diverging from the popular narrative of increased liberalization, this book argues specifically for direct government investment in human infrastructure; policies that increase wages and the bargaining power of labor; and the strategic use of exchange rates to encourage export-led growth. These measures raise up the majority and finance future productivity by driving broader consumption and fostering investment within national borders.

Though strategies like full employment, mass education, and progressive taxation are not especially controversial, none of the BRICS have truly embraced them. Examining barriers to implementation, Elsenhans and Babones find that the main obstacle to such reforms is an absence of political will, stemming from closely guarded elite privilege under the current laws. BRICS or Bust? is a short, incisive read that underscores the need for demand-driven growth and why it has yet to be achieved.

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About the Author

Hartmut Elsenhans is Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Leipzig University.Salvatore Babones is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Sydney.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Stanford Briefs
Publication date
2017
Language
English
ISBN 10 
080479989X
ISBN 13 
9780804799898
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
1
Number of pages
128