One can tell, from how the prescription occurs in the first paragraphs, prior to the diagnosis and evidence, that the conclusions came before the research for this columnist.

In fact, this research, while elegant and intriguing, compelling and persuasive, implies nothing about what it takes for an economy to cross the gulf. It does provide another picture of development and underdevelopment. However, prejudice is the only justification for believing that government interference is the only, or even a potential, means to solve this problem.

There is no reason to believe gov't is omnipotent in this, or any other, regard. There may be a gap that the markets alone can't close; a societal gap or a cultural gap or some other issue. Countries may just take time to mature or find ways around gaps and barriers created by other nations.

Certainly countries are complex creatures of economies, people, geography, etc. There are ways to characterize and describe their development and barriers to it... but there may not be such a simple solution as communism/centralized decision making that can outsmart millions or billions of self-interested, sometimes clever, semi-rational individuals all acting with or against their own governments as they perceive the interest of self, clan, family, religion, history, etc.

The Humanist approach: believe in your people's potential, remove obstacles and assign smart, knowledgeable people on the top levels to take care of the logistics.

simultaneous investments in education, transport infrastructure, electricity, and many other things.

Or in other words, infrastructure! Forget the free market bull - there are some things government is best at doing. You don't have to create product space or even be an economist to see a connection between economic growth and government investment in infrastructure.

Or, if you can't rid yourself of the idea that government is evil, look at it this way - the reason that government investment is a requirement for economic growth is because, even in a free market, it is the most efficient and capable entity to do the job. Government "wins" out over the private sector through market forces!

Be it cause or effect, young, vibrant, growing economies happen in countries with high government investment in infrastructure. Tired, dead, old economies come with countries in which the government has ceased to invest in maintainence, let alone in improvement.