ABSTRACT
The experiences of a number of countries, principally Germany and Japan, following the Second World War have led many to be highly optimistic as regards economic recovery from war. There are, however, some important differences between such countries and the typical developing country emerging from war in the 1990s:
The most important difference is that most of these developing countries were economically weak before war began. Germany and Japan, it could be argued, retained a considerable level of development (e.g. in the form of an educated and skilled workforce) despite the fact that their economic infrastructure had been shattered. Recovery, then, involved a return to a strong economic growth path. Recovery for the typical developing country means returning to a weak economic growth path, with many of the essential underpinnings of growth (the economist would emphasise savings and investment, as well as an educated and skilled workforce and an efficient commercial infrastructure) being poorly developed even before their damage and disruption by war. The successes of Germany and Japan are most unlikely to be repeated in the war-torn countries of the 1990s.
