ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the principal points of New International Economic Order (NIEO) and explains the “catches” that turn each proposition upside down. World price supports for primary product exports constitute the keystone of NIEO. NIEO is part of a contrary environment, in which less developed countries (LDCs) governments seek protected markets, higher prices, and decreased exports and pay little attention to experimentation and technology. The book describes many of the pieces together, showing how events concerning the price of oil, the world debt situation, and the international monetary system have come together to affect the position of the poor. Generalized System of Preferences as a means of promoting exports is perhaps the next best thing to LDC bargaining in the international market, through an international agency such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
