Suchergebnisse

The argument that appropriate technologies may more easily achieve income distribution objectives is challenged in the light of the political realities, the problems of extraeconomic factors, & social organization in the underdeveloped countries. The failure to be systematic about questions of political economy will lead to simplistic recommendations about technology policies & not to a 'cure' for problems of unemployment & maldistribution of income. The tendency has been to take account of social & economic organization when working out why certain techniques are used & what consequences they have, but to sidestep the problems of political economy when proposals are made about how to get a more "appropriate" choice of techniques. The real problem, then, is how should the government act in an economy where there is private ownership in the means of production, so that entrepreneurs will make 'better' choices from the social point of view. An additional point raised is concerned with science policy, & policies towards technical change in the underdeveloped countries. Using as examples the setting up of a Scientific & Technical Council in Turkey, 1960, & comments on the engineering faculty at the U of Nairobi, Kenya, it is shown that in the Turkish situation there is very little for the scientific community to do as far as industrial technology is concerned; such expertise being supplied by foreign enterprise. In the Kenya situation, the research being done has no relation to the needs of this underdeveloped country. E. Loomis.