Enable the People to Say, 'We Did It!'

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an effective means of attracting productive capital required for economic growth and development. Developing countries, however, should also look inside and mobilize inactive domestic capital they are sitting on. The leader's task in every developing country is to initiate and accomplish the necessary national reforms, enabling it to transform the dead capital into live capital that would be utilized productively together with FDI. Developing countries must keep the economy humane, and that requires leadership. According to a great thinker of ancient China, Lao Tsu: A good leader is the one whom people respect and love. A bad leader is the one whom people fear. The worst leader is the one whom people despise. An ideal leader performs actions without *As Faculty Fellow of the Institute for International Business, the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, the author gratefully acknowledges the research support provided by the Institute. unnecessary speech (that is, without resorting to propaganda or spin), and his people say, We did it! Every leader should strive to become an ideal leader, as envisioned by Lao Tsu. Under such a leader (or leaders), the people will say, We did it! when they make remarkable economic development and enjoy high living standards in a civilized manner.