What do you think?
Economic Development in Perspective
This prominent American economist discusses the problems of economic development, poverty, overpopulation, and socialism
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
About the author
John Kenneth Galbraith
186 books537 followersJohn Kenneth Galbraith was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism and democratic socialism. His books on economic topics were bestsellers in the 1950s and 1960s. A prolific author, he produced four dozen books & over a 1000 articles on many subjects. Among his most famous works was his economics trilogy: American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958) & The New Industrial State (1967). He taught at Harvard University for many years. He was active in politics, serving in the administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. He served as US Ambassador to India under John F. Kennedy.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice: one in 1946 from President Truman, and another in 2000 from President Clinton. He was also awarded the Order of Canada in 1997, and in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for strengthening ties between India and the USA.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice: one in 1946 from President Truman, and another in 2000 from President Clinton. He was also awarded the Order of Canada in 1997, and in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for strengthening ties between India and the USA.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 3, 2018
'Economic Development' is a short collection of speeches given by John Kenneth Galbraith in India in 1961. Galbraith was an economist, diplomat and public intellectual throughout the post-war period. The speeches in the text were delivered during his time as the American Ambassador to India under JFK. Galbraith is witty and engaging and the speeches reveal a snapshot of the general thinking in the field of economic development in the post-war decades. However, as is expected given its age, modern concepts such as the critical role of institutions in a nation's successful development are absent.
The speeches reveal Galbraith's clever wit - most of the sections open with a dry remark (eg: "The world's religions are, on the whole, unspecific on the nature of the economic system in the hereafter.") Also evident is his tendency to try and simplify economic concepts for what might be a lay audience (eg: "In less stately language, there aren't enough places where people can do anything useful"). His combination of charming wit and clarity of expression goes far to explain his prominent role in public life over many decades. His position as a communicator of economic ideas was perhaps only rivalled by Milton Friedman at the time, and is a post unfilled in the current generation.
The speeches are about economic development in poor countries. It is interesting to observe the trends in the speeches which reflect their time. A speech entitled 'The Choice', sets out the choice developing countries face between a western economy and a Marxian economy. In the last chapter Galbraith urges action on population control, urging the reader that action should not be delayed "by wishful talk of an inexpensive pill or like miracle." Galbraith talks of his personal experience in 'post-war' planning.
Most interestingly for me, as a (very) amateur student of development economics, was the complete absence of any mention of the importance of 'institutions' or 'politics' as key drivers in the success of a nation's development. My understanding is that the institutional theory in development economics, now an important concept in the field, was not formalised until several decades later (eg. North, Acemoglu). Galbraith mentions the importance of effective government, social order and education - all types of institutions - but doesn't have at his disposal the theoretical framework to explain them in that language. This is not a criticism of Galbraith, but rather serves as a reminder that although it is an insightful read for an economic historian, the proposals set forth are incomplete, of their time and don't include important modern theories.
The speeches reveal Galbraith's clever wit - most of the sections open with a dry remark (eg: "The world's religions are, on the whole, unspecific on the nature of the economic system in the hereafter.") Also evident is his tendency to try and simplify economic concepts for what might be a lay audience (eg: "In less stately language, there aren't enough places where people can do anything useful"). His combination of charming wit and clarity of expression goes far to explain his prominent role in public life over many decades. His position as a communicator of economic ideas was perhaps only rivalled by Milton Friedman at the time, and is a post unfilled in the current generation.
The speeches are about economic development in poor countries. It is interesting to observe the trends in the speeches which reflect their time. A speech entitled 'The Choice', sets out the choice developing countries face between a western economy and a Marxian economy. In the last chapter Galbraith urges action on population control, urging the reader that action should not be delayed "by wishful talk of an inexpensive pill or like miracle." Galbraith talks of his personal experience in 'post-war' planning.
Most interestingly for me, as a (very) amateur student of development economics, was the complete absence of any mention of the importance of 'institutions' or 'politics' as key drivers in the success of a nation's development. My understanding is that the institutional theory in development economics, now an important concept in the field, was not formalised until several decades later (eg. North, Acemoglu). Galbraith mentions the importance of effective government, social order and education - all types of institutions - but doesn't have at his disposal the theoretical framework to explain them in that language. This is not a criticism of Galbraith, but rather serves as a reminder that although it is an insightful read for an economic historian, the proposals set forth are incomplete, of their time and don't include important modern theories.
July 11, 2024
A SERIES OF LECTURES BY GALBRAITH WHILE HE WAS AMBASSADOR TO INDIA
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was a Canadian-American economist, who taught at Harvard University, served as U.S. Ambassador to India (1961-1963), and wrote a number of bestselling books.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1962 book, "When I went to India in the early months of 1961, I found myself faced with the problem of how to reconcile the requirement that an ambassador must make speeches with the fact that he has little to say... for everyone assumes that ambassadors will make speeches without saying anything. My solution was to prepare and give a series of lectures on economic development. This was a topic... of much interest to Indians... I have added four more chapters."
He dryly observes that among the enterprises currently enlisting the energies of man, one is "his effort to launch himself across space. A second, less grand, less costly, but not perhaps less important, is the effort to improve the position of those who will stay behind." (Pg. 13)
He observes that "So long as we have no diagnosis of the poverty of a country, we can surely have no cure." (Pg. 20) He suggests that countries currently entering nationhood face the choice between the "economic, political, and constitutional arrangements" of Western democracies, and Marxist/Soviet organization. He notes that "In the United States, measures that would elsewhere be identified with socialist enlightenment---social security, agricultural price guarantees, even the public development of public power sites---are defended as making private enterprise function better." (Pg. 23-24)
As areas where government initiative was required, he cites the development of atomic energy, space exploration, and the supersonic air transport, observing, "One rewarding result of these necessities has been the discovery of how much government initiative is welcomed in a capitalist economy once it is discovered that capitalism alone cannot do the job." (Pg. 63)
He notes conflicting ideas about investment in education, saying "When we think of education as a consumer service, it becomes something on which we should save... But when we think of education as an investment, it becomes something not to be economized but emphasized." (Pg. 78) [I imagine that the college-age students faced with rising tuition costs could appreciate this statement.]
This is not one of Galbraith's "essential works," but it is an interesting popular analysis of a theme which he otherwise does not greatly develop.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was a Canadian-American economist, who taught at Harvard University, served as U.S. Ambassador to India (1961-1963), and wrote a number of bestselling books.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1962 book, "When I went to India in the early months of 1961, I found myself faced with the problem of how to reconcile the requirement that an ambassador must make speeches with the fact that he has little to say... for everyone assumes that ambassadors will make speeches without saying anything. My solution was to prepare and give a series of lectures on economic development. This was a topic... of much interest to Indians... I have added four more chapters."
He dryly observes that among the enterprises currently enlisting the energies of man, one is "his effort to launch himself across space. A second, less grand, less costly, but not perhaps less important, is the effort to improve the position of those who will stay behind." (Pg. 13)
He observes that "So long as we have no diagnosis of the poverty of a country, we can surely have no cure." (Pg. 20) He suggests that countries currently entering nationhood face the choice between the "economic, political, and constitutional arrangements" of Western democracies, and Marxist/Soviet organization. He notes that "In the United States, measures that would elsewhere be identified with socialist enlightenment---social security, agricultural price guarantees, even the public development of public power sites---are defended as making private enterprise function better." (Pg. 23-24)
As areas where government initiative was required, he cites the development of atomic energy, space exploration, and the supersonic air transport, observing, "One rewarding result of these necessities has been the discovery of how much government initiative is welcomed in a capitalist economy once it is discovered that capitalism alone cannot do the job." (Pg. 63)
He notes conflicting ideas about investment in education, saying "When we think of education as a consumer service, it becomes something on which we should save... But when we think of education as an investment, it becomes something not to be economized but emphasized." (Pg. 78) [I imagine that the college-age students faced with rising tuition costs could appreciate this statement.]
This is not one of Galbraith's "essential works," but it is an interesting popular analysis of a theme which he otherwise does not greatly develop.
June 27, 2026
A pretty readable, slim volume of essays adapted from speeches about public administration that Galbraith made while working as an ambassador to India. Though it's definitely a product of its time (i.e. that all facets of society are engaged in a collaborative effort to improve it, however misguided those attempts may be), there's still a lot of good stuff in here. Can't help but appreciate his clear-eyed pragmatism: he openly acknowledges the benefits of a diverse toolkit (rather than a dogmatically determined prescription, liberal on one end and Marxist on the other) in the ongoing work of economic development. Much of use for the 21st century student of development economics and public administration.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews