But there is a real disagreement about how you get it and sustain it. The recipe often includes trade liberalization, independent central banks, more effective and less profligate governments, privatization of state assets, and investment in health and education. The World Bank and the I.M.F. are not shy of using their enormous lending power to push for these ends. The dissenting view diverges in subtle but significant ways. And they argue that the World Bank and the I.M.F. should tread lightly when their clients face a financial crisis like the one that swept from Thailand to Russia in the late 1990's.
China is their shining star.
China slowly privatizes state enterprises that employ large numbers of people, and its currency has remained tightly controlled. Still, its consistent growth has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty over the past two decades. Mr. Kanbur's draft report, which had circulated widely on the Internet, preached a more flexible free-market gospel. And economists don't really understand why nations react differently to the same medicine. For example Argentina, the report notes, grew much faster after enacting market reforms than Costa Rica.