CREATING A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT

A modernizing nation's economic prosperity requires at least a modest legal infrastructure centered on the protection of property and contra ct rights. The essential legal reform required to create that infrastr ucture may be the adoption of a system of relatively precise legal rul es, as distinct from more open-ended standard or a heavy investment in upgrading the nation judiciary. A virtuous cycle can arise in Which i nitially modest expenditures on law reform increase the rate of econom ic growth, in turn generating resources that Will enable more ambitiou s legal reforms to be undertaken in the future.