Although the Newly Industrializing Countries may be regarded as tigers because they are strong, ferocious traders, the analogy has a darker side.
Tigers live in the jungle and by the law of the jungle.
Trade, however, is but one front of a larger war. Political leaders, economists and technocrats in Latin America and other parts of the Third World are following this struggle with keen interest. Many an envious gaze is being cast at the Asian success story. It is, however, ironic that free-market economics has achieved unparalleled hegemony in development discourse. For the most striking NIC achievements on the ground have consistently violated free-market principles.