The Prebisch-Singer thesis dominated UN development economics but faced wide academic skepticism.

Evidence

The rationale for such reform rested largely on a contention famously advanced by the first secretary-general of UNCTAD, Raúl Prebisch—namely, that the terms of trade were deteriorating over time for exporters of primary products. The so-called Prebisch-Singer thesis was accepted by many of the economists working at the United Nations, including those serving under Prebisch at the Economic Commission for Latin America and later UNCTAD, but it was regarded as controversial in the discipline at large. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1756

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the Prebisch-Singer thesis as the claim that primary-product exporters face deteriorating terms of trade over time.
• XREF: Connects to dependency-theory and Latin American structuralism literature I’ve read on ECLA. — connects to: Haberler’s 1959 critique of Prebisch-Singer did not contradict the GATT report bearing his name — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1760; Prebisch and Singer argued primary producers face deteriorating terms of trade — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1276

Broader Connections

• Prebisch and Singer argued primary producers face deteriorating terms of trade #expands (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1276
• Haberler’s 1959 critique of Prebisch-Singer did not contradict the GATT report bearing his name #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1760