In the last part of the 1970s, the late President William R. Tolbert, who had become increasingly aware of and concerned about the rapidly deteriorating conditions of the Liberian economy, commissioned a “Tax Force” under the chairmanship of the then Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs to make a comprehensive assessment of the many problems […] //
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On Some Of The Aspects Of The Current State Of The Liberian Economy: A Tentative Diagnostic And Assessment
By Dr. Brahima D. Kaba, Last updated May 4, 2020
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In the last part of the 1970s, the late President William R. Tolbert, who had become increasingly aware of and concerned about the rapidly deteriorating conditions of the Liberian economy, commissioned a “Tax Force” under the chairmanship of the then Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs to make a comprehensive assessment of the many problems confronting the nation’s economy, members of the task force included experts from various professional, technical and academic backgrounds and areas.
Dr. Brahima D. Kaba, brakaba@yahoo.com, Contributing Writer
The author of this paper represented one of the areas of the social sciences to help identify some of the sociological impacts of the deterioration of the terms of a change of our main export commodities such as iron ore, rubber, coffee, cocoa, etc., on the world market. These export products constituted then the backbone of our underdeveloped economy.
Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh was one of the members of the expert panel on economic issues. It must be noted from the onset that the Liberian economy was then emerging from one of the fastest growths of the country’s history. This rapid economic growth, in turn, triggered a period of unprecedented social and political movements and changes in the society.
In effect, from the early 1960s to the middle part of the 1970s, our economy had experienced perhaps the second fastest growth rate in recent world history, second only to Japan. This phenomenal growth had even attracted the attention of a team of economists from a famous U.S University to conduct a study of – and write a book on – this peculiar moment of the Liberian economy. The book, titled “GROWTH WITHOUT DEVELOPMENT”, rapidly became a classic in the study of third world economies as they developed the tendencies of undergoing phenomenal growth which, due mainly to internal and external structural deficiencies, almost always failed to translate into real socio-economic and socio-political development for these countries and their peoples. Simply put, the huge revenues that Liberia derived from, among other things, her immense iron ore exports were not properly invested into her people and the establishment of the needed productive assets and factors of production such as agricultural, road, educational, and health infrastructure.
