| Abstract: | The past century saw unprecedented rises in life expectancyand living standards. It also witnessed major structural changes,the rise of 'big government' and two globalizations. Yet, thecentury's economic history was marred by policy and market failuresresulting in a massive world-wide depression, frequent financialcrises (particularly in the developing world), and several inflationspurts. Central planning set back development for one-thirdof the world's population; transition to the market economywas at best slow, in some instances disastrous. Income distributionwithin countries changed little, while productivity convergencebetween rich and poor economies was virtually absent. Policy-makinglearnt some lessons from the 1930s experience, particularlyin the areas of macroeconomic management, international cooperation,and free trade. Dogmatic recipes, however, were often resortedto at home, aided and abetted by the pretensions of the economicsprofession. |
