Exam 12: The Global Economy

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Students should answer that following World War II, governments and transnational monetary funds (e.g., the World Bank and IMF) attempted to "develop" the former colonies. This meant using technology and knowledge to put them on a path toward "modernization" based on Western models. Specific goals included reducing poverty, alleviating suffering, making nations more "modern," and raising the standard of living. Dependency theorists held that the underlying conditions and relationships within the world economic system had not changed, and the independence of dozens of nations over the next decades was underdeveloped because of the exploitation that had occurred during the colonial era. In other words, resources had been taken from the less developed nations for consumption in the more developed colonial powers and their trade partners. Modernization theorists argued that rather than trying to compete in an arena in which they could not be competitive, Latin American nations should become self-sufficient.