Book Reviews : Economic Policies Toward Less Developed Countries. By HARRY G. JOHNSON. (Washington, D.C. : The Brookings Institution, 1967. Pp. xvi, 279. $6.75.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296802100320
• Author: Robert O. Myhr
• Date: 01 September 1968
• Published date: 01 September 1968
• Subject Matter: Articles

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Economic Policies Toward Less Developed Countries. By HARRY G. JOHNSON.
(Washington, D.C. : The Brookings Institution, 1967. Pp. xvi, 279. $6.75.)
Distinguished economist Harry Johnson offers an excellent study of interna-
tional trade policy and its effect on less developed countries. The central theme of
the book is that the United States must respond both politically and economically
to the proposals made by the less developed countries at the first United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development which met in Geneva in 1964. The author
points out that &dquo;it is
clear that
...
many facets of the aid and trade policies of the
developed countries impose serious barriers to the development of the less developed
countries, barriers whose reduction might contribute substantially to the promo-
tion and diffusion of economic growth throughout the world.&dquo;
In the initial portion of the book the author examines the economic, political,
and institutional setting for the 1964 UNCTAD meeting and the U.S. policy prob-
lems which ensued. Then, in the following chapters, he analyzes the international
aspects of and the policy obstacles to economic development, the extent to which
the existing international economic framework limits policy alternatives, and the
existing arrangements for trade in primary products and manufactured goods.
Finally, after a general but timely chapter on international monetary reform, he
concludes with general suggestions for U.S. policy. These include U.S. pledges to
raise no new barriers against imports, to untie its aid, and to lower barriers that
weigh especially heavily on the less developed countries.
In general, this book would be most valuable to the person who...