The Road to Prosperity, Stability, and Inclusiveness in the World Economy

The first author of the book, Justin Yifu Lin, was born in Taiwan of China in the early 1950s, shortly after the end of World War II when Taiwan of China was as poor and backward as most regions in Africa. The second author of the book was born in Sichuan, China in the mid-1980s. At that time, the Chinese mainland was as poor and backward as Taiwan of China when the first author was born, while Taiwan of China had already developed into an emerging industrialized economy and was later known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. In 2008, the economy of the Chinese mainland miraculously achieved a soaring development similar to that of Taiwan of China. The first author of this book also became the first chief economist of the World Bank from a developing country. The world economic pattern has changed dramatically in just four decades (please refer to Chap. 2 ). Such a fantastic experience assures us that poverty is not a fate. Even a country stuck in the trap of poverty for centuries could change its destiny and step on the road to fast development and transformation to get rid of poverty and realize industrialization and modernization within one or two generations.