If international development actors and national governments are to embrace the promise of Agenda 2030 To Leave No One Behind, ensuring public policies and programs are truly inclusive is an obvious strategy. Considering the diversity of understanding of the concept of inclusive development, or inclusive growth, it is worth revisiting the evolution of some of the theories and perspective that have underpinned development policies.
Early Models of Economic Development
Following World War II, due to considerations of political stability and the growing recognition of free trade as an engine of growth, the nations of the world transitioned to a more cooperative, trade-oriented approach to economic development, as evidenced by deals such as the Bretton Woods Agreement (Judt 2005, Piketty 2014). While the questions of who holds the power in and who benefits from these global systems have been hotly debated, GDP growth has historically been considered the primary metric of development success.
Continue reading “Looking back: the unsteady path towards inclusive development Policy”