Posted by IntrepidNavigator > 2015-06-04 12:26 | Report Abuse

I don't think it was a 'mistake to begin with'. Comparatively, many developed nations used the same tactics - imposed high import taxes, duties and tarrifs for competing manufacturers. The USA to Australia to UK, to Japan... all did the same, at one point or another. So, to call it 'a mistake to begin with' is being a bit unfair and prejudiced. We were all there, it was National Pride. It was going with the times for a country with the given natural resources.

At the time, in the 70's and 80's, national development policies around the world, and especially in the newly independent and developing economies, was focused on building upon national self-dependency.
It was only later that neo-classical economics and 'golbalisation' and thoughts of 'global comparative advantage' became a more accepted thought, and applied on a global scale.

So, it is what happened after... and the decisions that followed it, that became a mistake after mistake after mistake.