Case Study:
The World Bank's Change about the Open-Trade Policy for Growth

Is the global institution at last beginning to understand growth? asked Rodrik (2002:19), reviewing the WB's latest report on globalization. Rodrik states some conclusions of this report, some contradictory to each other but surely issues that create food for thought and further analysis. These conclusions of this report include the following:

• Countries that went farther down the path of globalization became the ones with the greatest success in economic growth and poverty reduction.
• Countries that integrated into the world economy most rapidly were not necessarily those that adopted the most pro-trade policies. This is an admission for the first time that liberalization does not necessarily lead to admission into the global economy, and in that case may not necessarily lead to economic growth. This also means that what has been said about globalization and its benefits may not necessarily benefit developing countries, especially if they have not accessed global markets as expected after liberalization.
• Rapid integration into global markets is a consequence not of trade liberalization or adherence to the WTO rules and structures, but of successful growth strategies with often highly idiosyncratic characteristics. Countries such as India and China which did not liberalize their economies until late 1990 for China and around 1991-1993 for India are regarded as 'globalizers' by the WB because of their growth. This means that countries expand their economies with or without liberalization, though liberalization has accelerated growth of the telecommunications and ICT sectors in other countries such as South Africa.
• More 'globalized' countries have deeper tariff cuts than 'less globalized' countries.
• Countries that grew rapidly and reduced poverty also tended to become increasingly integrated into the world economy.

There are other conclusions drawn from the WB report, but the conclusion can be made that the WB accepts that there are many growth strategies that can be employed by countries in order to develop their economies and liberalization may not be the way to go for countries. South Africa has adopted phased liberalization, meaning liberalization introduced in years and phases, according to the needs of the countries at that particular phase. Proceeds from the listing of Telkom on the JSE and NYSE, for example, will increase state revenue and reduce state debt. There are changes in policies such as those of the WB, and such changes are expected to continue for as long as conditions for most people in the developing world are improved.