| The tone of this report
is significantly more downbeat than
the recent assessment published by the International Monetary Fund.
Where the IMF spoke of global recovery - with risks that things
might turn out worse - UNCTAD dwells on the causes for concern.
The IMF identifies stronger economic growth in the United States
in recent months. The UNCTAD report worries that consumer spending
there might be losing momentum.
The report also says there's a need for
a rethink of what it calls the
market-driven approach to globalisation.
For the past two decades, it says, the approach in many developing
countries of eliminating inflation and reducing the size of the
public sector has often undermined growth
and hampered technological progress.
It says that industrial progress has halted in much of the developing
world. African and Latin American economies have shifted
away from sectors with the greatest potential for higher
productivity towards production and processing
of raw materials.
And the report is doubtful about whether what it calls a
second generation of neo-liberal reforms can get developing
economies back on track.
UNCTAD's Secretary General Reubens Ricupero called for a move
away from generalised approaches to one that accommodates
the diversity of conditions in the developing world.
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more downbeat: more restrained, a
little pessimistic
losing momentum: slowing down; here meaning the rate
at which US customers spend money may be beginning to fall
there is a need for a rethink:
it is necessary to think again about something
the market-driven approach: in
market economies, prices of good and services are decided by
supply - how much of them there are; and by demand - how many
people want to buy them. There is less of a role for the state
in the production and pricing of goods and services; and typically
governments concentrate on reducing inflation and encouraging
privatisation of state-owned industries
undermined growth: made economic
success less likely
hampered technological progress:
made it difficult for improvements in technology
shifted away from sectors with the greatest
potential: moved away from particular parts of the country's
economy or industries that promise success
production and processing of raw materials:
making (often growing or mining) things in their natural state
and changing them to create other products
a second generation of neo-liberal reforms:
a new set of changes or improvements, based on a modern version
of liberalism, the belief that people should have a lot of political
and individual freedom
accommodates the diversity of conditions:
takes into account the many different situations or circumstances
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