How China Escaped the Poverty Trap by Yuen Yuen Ang

The Weberian paradigm of “good governanceàgrowth” is also problematic in that it does not take the stage of development into consideration. Some even contend that foreign aid has actually worsened corruption and brought more harm than good to the poor” (Ang 2016, 20). “But how do impoverished countries secure investments? … many studies find the link between foreign aid and prosperity tenuous. Depending on needs, readers can glean relevant insights from her dynamic narrative.Īng critiques the concept that economic growth should be jumpstarted by capital investments from developed nations. Her theoretical framework and data analysis are impressively comprehensive.

It was prophetic, in a sense, but the value of her study lies in her research and analysis, challenging current rhetoric on the China phenomenon, conventional wisdoms in development and economic growth theories. One of the best studies on China’s economic transformation was done by Yuen Yuen Ang, professor at the University of Michigan, in her book How China Escaped the Poverty Trap (2016), published five years ahead of China’s completion of its goal of eradicating extreme poverty. Four decades later, the world witnessed the miracle of China’s economic transformation. “Wading across the river by feeling for stones on the riverbed” called for taking steady steps, improvising, experimenting and summing up experiences in the initial process of the country’s economic reform. “Wading across the river by feeling for stones on the riverbed.”Īt the beginning of the China’s economic reform in 1980, when China’s GDP per capita was ranked at the near bottom of the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) list, this allegorical saying that came out of the central government became a catchy phrase and actually provided directive to the economic reform and alleviation of poverty across China. By Yuen Yuen Ang, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.

How China Escaped the Poverty Trap by Yuen Yuen Ang