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The American paradox: ideology of free markets and the hidden practice of directional thrust

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  • Wade, Robert H.

Abstract

The USA presents a paradox. The US state has practised production-focused industrial policy from the early years of the republic, with benefits that by any plausible measure far exceed costs. But since the 1980s, the exchange-focused idea that ‘the free market is what works, and having the state help it is usually a contradiction in terms’ has been at the normative centre of gravity in public policy discourse. With ‘industrial policy’ rendered toxic, the state has disguised its production-focused practice, to the point where even non-ideological academic researchers claim that the USA does industrial policy not at all, or badly. This essay reviews the history of US industrial policy, with an emphasis on ‘network-building industrial policy’ over the past two decades. At the end, it draws a lesson for policy communities in other countries and interstate development organisations such as the World Bank and IMF.

Suggested Citation

  • Wade, Robert H., 2017. "The American paradox: ideology of free markets and the hidden practice of directional thrust," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69765, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:69765
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/69765/
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    Cited by:

    1. Grillitsch, Markus & Asheim, Bjørn, 2022. "Bouncing back, forward, and beyond: Towards regenerative regional development in responsible value chains," Papers in Innovation Studies 2022/11, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    2. Markus Grillitsch & Bjørn T. Asheim, 2023. "Towards regenerative regional development in responsible value chains: An agentic response to recent crises," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2310, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Apr 2023.
    3. Klingler-Vidra, Robyn & Wade, Robert, 2020. "Science and technology policies and the middle-income trap: lessons from Vietnam," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100712, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Bjorn T. ASHEIM & Sverre J. HERSTAD, 2021. "Regional innovation strategy for resilience and transformative industrial path development: evolutionary theoretical perspectives on innovation policy," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 12, pages 43-75, August.
    5. Natalya Naqvi & Anne Henow & Ha-Joon Chang, 2018. "Kicking away the financial ladder? German development banking under economic globalisation," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 672-698, September.
    6. Robert Wade, 2018. "Escaping the periphery: The East Asian ‘mystery’ solved," WIDER Working Paper Series 101, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Wade, Robert H., 2018. "The developmental state: dead or alive?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87356, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Francesco Crespi & Dario Guarascio, 2019. "The demand-pull effect of public procurement on innovation and industrial renewal," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(4), pages 793-815.
    9. Robert Wade, 2018. "Escaping the periphery: The East Asian 'mystery' solved," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-101, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Konstantinos Sioumalas-Christodoulou, 2021. "Exploring the Intellectual Capital of a High Tech Industry: A Case Study of the Scientific Outputs of Defence Firms," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 11(3), pages 69-85.
    11. Kalim SIDDIQUI, 2019. "The US Economy, Global Imbalances and Recent Development: A Critical Review," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 69(2), pages 175-205, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    industrial policy; US developmental state; networks; varieties of capitalism; leading the market; following the market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • N62 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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