Focus on what we say, not what we do

For years, the advanced economies have been lecturing poorer countries as to what they should do to develop their economies. Often called the “Washington Consensus”, we’ve been telling developing countries that they are poor because they engage in too many industrial policies such as high tariffs and subsidies. They need to liberalize, to move in a free market direction. Don’t be like Argentina, be like Singapore.

A recent article by Scott Lincicome points out that it’s now the advanced...