The Power of Productivity
The Power of Productivity
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生产力的力量
DOI：
10.7208/chicago/9780226477008.001.0001
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发表时间：
2004
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
W. W. Lewis
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
W. W. Lewis
贫富差距是当今世界面临的最严重、最棘手的问题。许多国家的长期贫困所影响的不仅仅是这些国家的公民和经济；它威胁到全球稳定，因为移民的压力变得不可持续，流氓国家通过极端的政治和恐怖主义行为寻求权力和影响力。为了解决这种顽固的贫困问题，近几十年来，大量的国际机构向这些国家投入了数十亿美元，然而，尽管有了这些资金和关注，世界上60亿人口中仍有大约50亿人生活在贫困国家。什么不起作用？我们怎样才能解决这个问题？《生产力的力量》一书为这些问题提供了有力而有争议的答案。威廉·w·刘易斯是麦肯锡全球研究所的名誉主任，他在本书中借鉴了该研究所在过去12年里对13个国家进行的广泛的微观经济研究，以反驳所有关于如何最好地改善经济差距的主流观点。刘易斯的研究涵盖了从最先进的汽车制造商到黑市街头摊贩和夫妻店的所有领域。他的研究最终表明，与普遍看法相反，向穷国提供更多资金并不是帮助它们的最佳方式。提高教育水平、汇率灵活性或政府偿付能力也不够。Lewis认为，改善贫穷国家经济状况的关键是通过激烈、公平的竞争和保护消费者权利来提高生产率。正如《生产力的力量》一书所解释的那样，这种全面的解决方案在各个层面上影响着贫穷国家的经济——从主要工业的生存能力到普通消费者如何看待他或她的购买行为。发展中国家制定的政策必须反映消费者的心态，而不是生产者的心态，以及随之而来的消费者权利意识。刘易斯声称，只有一种力量能够对抗生产者的特权——消费者利益。该研究所前所未有的研究方法和刘易斯多年的经济政策经验相结合，使《生产力的力量》成为当今全球经济最权威、最引人注目的观点，将在未来几年为全世界的政治和经济辩论提供信息。
The disparity between rich and poor countries is the most serious, intractable problem facing the world today. The chronic poverty of many nations affects more than the citizens and economies of those nations; it threatens global stability as the pressures of immigration become unsustainable and rogue nations seek power and influence through extreme political and terrorist acts. To address this tenacious poverty, a vast array of international institutions has pumped billions of dollars into these nations in recent decades, yet despite this infusion of capital and attention, roughly five billion of the world's six billion people continue to live in poor countries. What isn't working? And how can we fix it? The Power of Productivity provides powerful and controversial answers to these questions. William W. Lewis, the director emeritus of the McKinsey Global Institute, here draws on extensive microeconomic studies of thirteen nations over twelve years—conducted by the Institute itself—to counter virtually all prevailing wisdom about how best to ameliorate economic disparity. Lewis's research, which included studying everything from state-of-the-art auto makers to black-market street vendors and mom-and-pop stores, conclusively demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, providing more capital to poor nations is not the best way to help them. Nor is improving levels of education, exchange-rate flexibility, or government solvency enough. Rather, the key to improving economic conditions in poor countries, argues Lewis, is increasing productivity through intense, fair competition and protecting consumer rights. As The Power of Productivity explains, this sweeping solution affects the economies of poor nations at all levels—from the viability of major industries to how the average consumer thinks about his or her purchases. Policies must be enacted in developing nations that reflect a consumer rather than a producer mindset and an attendant sense of consumer rights. Only one force, Lewis claims, can stand up to producer special privileges—consumer interests. The Institute's unprecedented research method and Lewis's years of experience with economic policy combine to make The Power of Productivity the most authoritative and compelling view of the global economy today, one that will inform political and economic debate throughout the world for years to come.