IMF Working Papers

Crouching Beliefs, Hidden Biases: The Rise and Fall of Growth Narratives

By Reda Cherif, Marc Engher, Fuad Hasanov

November 8, 2020

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Reda Cherif, Marc Engher, and Fuad Hasanov. Crouching Beliefs, Hidden Biases: The Rise and Fall of Growth Narratives, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2020) accessed November 8, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

The debate among economists about an optimal growth recipe has been the subject of competing “narratives.” We identify four major growth narratives using the text analytics of IMF country reports over 1978-2019. The narrative “Economic Structure”—services, manufacturing, and agriculture—has been on a secular decline overshadowed by the “Structural Reforms”—competitiveness, transparency, and governance. We observe the rise and fall of the “Washington Consensus”—privatization and liberalization— and the rise to dominance of the “Washington Constellation,” a collection of many disparate terms such as productivity, tourism, and inequality. Growth theory concepts such as innovation, technology, and export policy have been marginal while industrial policy, which was once perceived positively, is making a comeback.

Subject: Economic sectors, Financial crises

Keywords: Growth, Industrial policy, Manufacturing, Narratives, Services, Structural reforms, Washington Consensus

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    28

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2020/228

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2020228

  • ISBN:

    9781513556864

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941

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