The Strategies For Development Today - 887 Words

Strategies for Development Today Different views on development that are seen today are based on the previous lessons learned from strategies used in the past. Protectionism was a strategy used in the past where countries created steep barriers for imports from other countries. They used this strategy to help protect their starting industries. Countries didn’t open up international market competition until they were sure they were ready to compete profitably against them. This strategy worked successfully for the United States, Germany, and Japan. In the second half of the twentieth century, modern day strategies for development were of influence. Dominant strategies for development used today are import substitution, state socialism, and†¦show more content†¦The goal was to catch up their technology with international producers to lower trade barriers over time. Another advantage of import substitution was the balance of payments. Since the country produced domestic goods that were once imported, this led to more imports of technology without causing a deficit. Although import substitution did work out for some countries, it did have its weaknesses towards the late twentieth century. These countries shifted from agriculture production to manufacturing goods, which increased global agricultural prices and put food importers in a tough situation. Another problem was that the domestic production of these countries did not become competitive with the international markets. Small consumer markets could not reach the production of important goods for the economies of larger domestic markets or international markets. Also, since domestic producers do not have competition from foreign producers this reduces the motivation for technology improvement. This did not prepare firms for the international market, instead it made them remain incompetent or weak. When the state allocates market resources instead of allowing the market to regulate the supply and demand of the resources is an alternative strategy for development called state socialism. This strategy spread after World War II to