Recall the "trade data spreadsheet.xis" used in the problems for Chapter 1. For each country, compute GDP per capita, and then find the rate of growth of GDP per capita from 1971 to 2001. ('These are nominal rates of growth, since GDP is measured in current U.S. dollars. Therefore, they are not useful for evaluating how successful any one country's growth performance was, but they are useful for comparing growth rates across countries.)
(a) Identify the five countries with the highest 1971-2001 per capita GDP growth rates, and the countries with the lowest. Compare the openness to trade of these two groups (use 1971 figures).
(b) Identify the five most and the five least open economies in 1971, and compare their per capita GDP growth rates.
(c) Can you conclude anything about whether or not openness is good for growth? Suggest at least one reason why you might not be able to conclude anything about this question from these calculations.