Structural Adjustment, Global Trade and the New Political Economy of Development

Biplab Dasgupta. Structural Adjustment Global Trade and the New Political Economy of Development. New Delhi. Sage Publications. 1998. Price Indian Rupees 450 (hardback). The author has written a very topical book the relevance of which cannot be understated. At the core of the book the author discusses the concept of the new political economy of development which forms the theoretical underpinnings that lie behind the structural adjustment/ stabilisation programmes of the international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Biplab Dasgupta has very concisely and succinctly analysed the new political economy of development which has, as its centre-piece, a blind faith in the operation of free-market forces. This can be traced back to the Reagan and Thatcher years, which saw a shift away from interventionist policies to allowing the markets to decide.