Backwardness and Exports

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My comment here:

(1) I don't like the third paragraph as the author seems to suggest that there is a net cost in moving first and a net benefit of being backward. Maybe I am misconstruing his wording. At any rate, I think, it is one thing to be backward (with the enormous costs associated with this) and another being in a position to take advantage of the achievements of first movers (saving costs and gaining benefits compared to reinventing the wheel). Also, the costs of moving first will almost certainly be lower than the costs of being backward and entail benefits clearly surpassing costs (early and long-lasting wealth). In short: it is always better to be advanced in terms of economic development rather than backward.

Of course, the author is right that backward nations ought to optimise the follower's advantage (saving the costs of reinventing the wheel).

(2) Like the previous post, this post encourages me to think that exports play a pivotal role in successful development, a fact that belies the weird categorical MMT-proposition "imports = benefits", "exports = costs". It is wrong to dichotomise exports and imports as they are inextricably interlinked. Both involve benefits and costs.

See also here and here. 

Continued here.