Does a country need to wersternize to progress economically?

Answer 1

Not necessarily.What are the ingredients required for a country to be economically and financially advanced? To find answers to this question one does not need to be a professor of philosophy or an eminent economist, but the common sense will prevail.
As much as a good foundation is needed to build a solid house, grassroots policies of a country should be to identify and recognize the local talent and develop such genius into national industries.
Simultaneously, it will be important to maintain an open-eye attitude on foreign and international market forces too. Combination of these two factors in this economic equation and balancing out the act will not only create employment opportunities but will open doors for more innovative and new ideas and local industries alike.
If this concept is focused on to Sri Lanka,(for example) what do we see today? A handful of local industries and manufacturers have reached the industrial winning post in a very short period of time. Orange, an ISO 9001.2000 company with a history of over two decades of innovation behind it, has been producing electrical wiring and accessories to SLS, BS and IEC standards. The rising Spirit of Sri Lanka' representing the best of Sri Lankan ingenuity and internationally recognized quality by becoming the number one.
They are a distinctive example of an employment creator in the country both directly as well indirectly through their associated suppliers of raw materials, distributors, market researchers etc. Can a local industry function effectively and profitably on its own? Definitely not, and it does need the fullest cooperation, support and assistance from the State as much as from the public.
A minimum political interference by Opposition political parties is paramount for a nation's progress. Therefore the underlying factors towards the progress of a country rests on the blessings of the government, collaboration of the Opposition and also the cooperation of the consumer in recognizing local products and becoming one hundred per cent national minded in their purchases.
They need to be reasonable, rational and regularly responsibly in terms of quality control of their products with a fair pricing policy to give the consumer value for money. Short sighted policies of making a ' quick buck with one shot' attitude or producing cheaper quality goods for bargain basements will only helps them to 'dig their own industrial graves'!
If people do not support their local industries not only they will aid a foreign exchange drain out of the country but the backlash of such irresponsible moves may lead to the collapse of local factories, loss of employment and ultimately towards a national catastrophe.Local industries that produce quality goods and create employment opportunities should be recognized, encouraged and given the fullest support. Then local products will not only be adequately available in the consumer markets at reasonable prices but the economy too will start to boom with International exports.

Answer 2

No, although "westernize" is a loaded term. Western culture has its unique economic features, such as a preference for spending now and no aversion to debt. This means you'll have more consumption but less investment.

Maybe the best examples I can provide are of export-driven economies versus Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI). ISI is an attempt to emulate a Western economy structurally by becoming the source of production for most goods sold domestically. A book called "Between Memory and Desire" described some of these efforts in the Levant - and explains why you never see Egyptian-made TVs much outside of Egypt, or Singaporean-produced autos much outside of Singapore.

Export-driven economies tend to do better because of comparative advantage - they produce what the nation produces best. The ISI model is flawed because it produces with imported raw materials what Western countries produce with domestically-harvested raw materials. Since ISI tries to imitate with imports a national strategy that does without imports, ISI cannot work as well.

Answer 3

Well, if history is any indication, the answer is yes, a country should westernize itself if it hopes to achieve economic success. Examples that immediately come to mind are Eastern Europe, Russia, and of course China.

Answer 4

no it needs to easternize....