| dc.description.abstract |
How do host country politics affect foreign business interests? Tbis
question is so complex that, while recognizing some influence, historians still
concentrate on profit-making and market forces in order to analyze foreign
investment, the growth of the firm, and the economic performance of less developed
countries. Those concerned more with the reasons for business
expansion at the source rather than at the destination seldom consider the
relationsbip between host-country politics and foreign investment. Others
who do ponder the relationship may emphasize either the domination of
local elites by foreign interests or the role of the state in promoting
development. Scholarly analysis of the 'politics of modernization' most often
centers on economic policies. The tendency is to assume that economic
forces in and of themselves elplain economic performance -whether one
sees that performance in positive or pathological terms. The competition for
domestic politicial power becomes a mere by-product of the profit-making
(or capital accumulation) of the foreigners. In other words, economic policy
is mistaken for politics. The first represents the government's priorities for the spending of scarce public capital and the other, potitics, is the struggle
among power contenders to gain and maintain control of the government. |
