by Dani Rodrik

About the author: Dani Rodrik is a professor of international political economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Advocates of global economic integration hold out utopian visions of the prosperity that developing countries will reap if they open their borders to commerce and capital. This hollow promise diverts poor nations’ attention and resources from the key domestic innovations needed to spur economic growth.

A senior U.S. Treasury official recently urged Mexico’s government to work harder to reduce violent crime because “such high levels of crime and violence may drive away foreign investors.” This admonition nicely illustrates how foreign trade and investment have become the ultimate yardstick for evaluating the social and economic policies of governments in developing countries. Forget the slum dwellers or campesinos...