In the past, government and business were as much partners as rivals, resulting in broad-based growth and healthy social development. But advocates of anti-government market fundamentalism are intent on scrapping the instrument of nearly a century of unprecedented economic and social progress. Hacker and Pierson examine why what's good for American business elites and what's good for Americans have become misaligned.

"Development is a difficult endeavor in any environment, much more so in places such as Myanmar with its "perfect storm" of extreme poverty, international sanctions, political repression, and human rights violations, with concomitant conflicts within development organizations over norms and policies. This book examines how to effect successful development interventions in Myanmar. The author points out how practitioners have questioned universal economic prescriptions for development in ways that have not questioned the normative foundations behind their work. Ware does not argue for a facile moral relativism; he sees Myanmar as an egregious violator of human rights. He does call for "context sensitivity" to help organizations adapt their values to better meet the needs of client populations. Through fieldwork and an extensive series of interviews, Ware brings into focus key issues of perception and practice that are intrinsic to the development enterprise"--Supplied by publisher.