korrents

What Oliver Kim thinks about government

@oliver-kim · 19 positions · 1 change of mind

Development economist and economic historian who writes the Global Developments newsletter. He works on East Asian growth — Taiwanese land reform, Korean industrial policy — and on what the East Asian record does and does not tell other poor countries.

Oliver Kim did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

6 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Oliver Kim has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingIndustrial policy that grows a poor country’s economy does not automatically reduce its poverty.

    Their wordsBut, peering past the hype around Morowali reminds us that we should be careful before assuming that industrial policy must be pro-poor.

    ↗Indonesia Climbs the Chainglobal-developments.org 3rd of 5 in this piece

  3. Our readingWho gains from a poor country’s growth is a question of political economy and geopolitics, never a purely technical one.

    Their wordsPoverty reduction is never a purely technocratic exercise, and questions about industrial policy can never be entirely divorced from those of political economy—including those of global geopolitics.

    ↗Indonesia Climbs the Chainglobal-developments.org 4th of 5 in this piece

  4. 5 months earlier

  5. Our readingAid transforms a country only where a capable state with a development plan is already there to spend it.

    Their wordsAll this to say: capable states with ambitious developmental plans, when hit with a bazooka of money, can seize the opportunity to transform themselves.

    ↗A World Without Aid?global-developments.org 3rd of 7 in this piece

  6. 3 weeks earlier

  7. Our readingCatch-up growth in the twentieth century was almost entirely state-led.

    Their wordsCatch-up growth in the 20th century was almost entirely state-led.

    ↗No, South Korea Was Not Poorer Than Kenya in 1960global-developments.org 2nd of 8 in this piece

  9. Our readingPre-colonial statehood in East Asia carried through the colonial period and on into the post-independence era.

    Their wordsPrecisely how much the ancient continuity of East Asian states matters for development is still a little murky, and the delineation with colonial legacies is still an area of active debate—but the balance of evidence suggests that the legacies of these pre-colonial states stretched through the colonial period, extending even into the post-independence era.

    ↗No, South Korea Was Not Poorer Than Kenya in 1960global-developments.org 5th of 8 in this piece

  11. Our readingAfrica before colonisation was not stagnant for lacking states: states formed where they paid, and other arrangements suited other places.

    Their wordsAfrican states formed where it was rational to do so, in places like the Ethiopian highlands where population density was high and the disease burden was relatively low.

    ↗No, South Korea Was Not Poorer Than Kenya in 1960global-developments.org 7th of 8 in this piece