Dying for Growth: Global Inequality and the Health of the Poor

Rating:
Summary: Important but Imbalanced
Review: Dying for Growth is an important and thoroughly research book. The authors document how some neoliberal policies have caused governments to slash safety nets and reduce spending on crucial social services. They show in detail that elites, both global and domestic, have pursued policies that have harmed poor people. The authors avoid using economic growth as an indicator of development and instead focus on health and the distribution of healthcare. This has the virtue of demonstrating that growth and human development aren't necessarily synonymous and may actually come apart in certain instances. Growth isn't a perfect proxy for well-being or other desirable qualities. In this way, Dying for Growth offers a needed corrective to the pro-growth orthodoxy.

That said, Dying for Growth has serious problems and should absolutely never be the first and last book you read about globalization or neoliberalism. The authors disregard evidence that sometimes contradict their conclusions, caricature their opponents, and tend to focus on particular cases to the neglect of the overall picture. I will use a few examples to illustrate.

(1) Multinational corporations get a bad rap in this book. The way the authors tell it, it sounds like these corporations systematically undermine the health and living standards of poor people throughout the world. However, the authors neglect to compare multinational corporations with domestic firms and factories. If they did make this comparison, multinationals would come out rather well. A significant amount of evidence suggests that multinational corporations (a) pollute less than domestic industries (b) pay much better (c) and have higher labor standards than domestic industries.

One study of Indonesian manufacturing, based on an analysis of 20,000 plants, showed that the average wages in foreign-owned plants was 50 percent higher than in private domestic plants. The study finds not only that wages are higher in foreign-owned plants, but their presence raises wages in domestic plants as well. (See Lipsey and Sjoholm, "Foreign Direct Investment and Wages in Indonesian Manufacturing" National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers)

(2) Economic growth may not be the panacea for every ill, but it is enormously important nonetheless. On average, a 10 percentage point increase in economic growth will produce a 25.9 percent decrease in the proportion of people living in poverty. This is a far greater reduction of poverty than redistribution usually accomplishes. While growth isn't everything, it is utterly essential for reducing poverty. (See Richard Adams, 2003. "Economic Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: Findings from a New Data Set." World Bank, Working Paper 2972.)

These two examples illustrate that the authors overlook evidence that may undermine their views and there are many more such examples. I applaud Dying for Growth for focusing on the poor and how some misguided policies have harmed them. Still, I strongly suggest you supplement this book with Martin Wolf's Why Globalization Works or Jagdish Bhagwati's In Defense of Globalization. That is, if you want a balanced view on globalization and neoliberalism.

Rating:
Summary: Neoliberal polices and the poor - ugly human nature at work.
Review: If the poor were to benefit from neoliberal policies, Dying for Growth argues, Mexico should provide an exemplary case. With constant encouragement from the United States, Mexico has aggressively implemented neoliberal policies for more than 20 years. The maquiladora sector of the economy, industrial plants owned by transnational corporations (TNCs) manufacturing products to export primarily to the United States, has grown quickly since the implementation of NAFTA, but this has been at the expense of other sectors of the economy. Competition with TNCs has undermined 30 000 small businesses and millions of subsistence farmers. Millions of permanently displaced peasants have made their way to urban shantytowns or tried to immigrate to the United States.
Read what does it mean to privatize health care system and industry in many countries around the world.
Learn how rich get richer and poor get poorer virtually everywhere, including USA and other developed nations.
How realy "free" is trade, market and for whom ?
Who controls "New World Order" - politicians elected by citizens or corporations ?
If you are not sure what is the answer - get this very interesting and disturbing research/analysis coming from Institute for Health and Social Justice.

Rating:
Summary: Not so!
Review: The previous reviewer, unfortunately, fails to understand much economics and likely rated this book for his own Republican purposes. As a Yale economist, I place my full support on the economics in this book. Unfortunately, the previous reviewer misses the point altogether, which has little to do with economics--it is a point about humanism. Not only are these authors qualified to draw the conclusions they do--their heavily documented and outstanding conclusions present a fresh analysis for those who have heard about global equity problems but need the details fleshed-out in an interesting and accurate manner. It is clear that this text is grounded in strong scholarly research while maintaining its voice to the common reader. Definitely a read for anyone interested in equity issues, global problems, and health care.

Rating:
Summary: What's the connection between poverty and health?
Review: This book provides a very thorough examination of how unequal patterns of growth and social inequality on a global scale have resulted in dire consequences for those many unfortunate who cannot afford health care. Many individuals, especially those residing in the United States, are already aware of the growing costs of health care. But imagine what it is like to live in a developing country where medical care is rudimentary at best and you're at the mercy of industrial pollution from the nearby TNC factory?

Using health as an indicator of social inequality, the authors examine the connections between poverty and illness. Aggregate statistics depicting the health status on a global scale are improving is debunked. Rather, there is an uneven distribution of health improvements: the wealthy have access to comprehensive medical care while the poor are dying from preventable diseases. Access to resources is restricted, even in the midst of technological advancements in medicine. The goal of this book is to examine how international organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO along with TNCs influence political and economic structures of nations which in turn affect the accessibility , cost, and quality of health care provided (if any). The central question raised concerns what pattern of growth will benefit those in need the most? How can we redistribute global resources from the powerful few to the many of the world's poor?

There is no doubt that the subject matter of this book is very extensive and the book itself is pretty thick, but reading this book will enable one to gain a better understanding of how recent trends in globalization have had devasting effects on the world's population. The authors provide good case studies that illustrate their main arguments. This book continues to serve as a vital reference source for my studies.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for not ignorant people
Review: Unless you are not committed with the international situation and have a blind vision of how the world and the globalization are changind our living world, this book will improve your knowledge in many aspects.

It is very sad that people like the reader from New Yourk could express the opinion in his(her)review. The fact the he(she)didn't even signed his(her) opinion put his(her) criticism out of any kind of consideration.

I am very happy that there are another people that I even don't know personally, like Stephen Yhu that have a broader vision. I am also glad that other readers from USA, have expressed intelligent points of view.

As an international consultant in the field of International Health I just can say that the more you read, analize, avaliate and discuss the problems of our world, the bigger will be the possibility that it will be better. I am sure that this book is not the owner of the TRUE but nobody is. I am also sure that this GREAT BOOK will help people see the world from alternative perspectives.