Why is it that Pacific economies—despite years of reforms, donor funding, and technocratic advice—still struggle with slow growth, narrow export bases, and deep inequality? Ha-Joon Chang’s 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but it does ask the right questions—ones we don’t ask nearly enough in our region.

Published in 2010 but still highly relevant today, the book is a punchy, readable critique of the standard economic story—the one most Pacific governments have heard on repeat: free markets deliver efficiency, globalization brings growth, deregulation encourages investment, and minimal government is best. Chang, a development economist at Cambridge, takes each of these assumptions and dismantles them—gently, but firmly.

Challenging the Melanesian orthodoxy

Chang’s central argument is that there’s no such thing as a free market—only markets shaped by rules, institutions, and power. He reminds us that the very countries that now champion open markets—the US, UK, and others—were themselves protectionist and interventionist when they were developing.

That’s not an abstract history lesson. It’s a practical reminder for small economies like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, or the Solomon Islands, where liberalization and privatization have been front and centre for decades. Chang challenges the idea that these policies are inherently good—and urges policymakers to think harder about local realities.

Should PNG impose a tax on mineral windfalls? Should Fiji protect local industries? Should Solomon Islands invest more in state capacity instead of scaling back? Chang wouldn’t give simple yes/no answers, but he would insist we stop assuming the market always knows best.

Why this matters for Melanesia

Many Pacific nations have followed textbook reforms—reducing tariffs, selling state-owned enterprises, and keeping public spending in check. Yet, results have been mixed at best. Growth remains patchy. Youth unemployment is high. Institutions are weak.

Chang’s message is clear: economics is not a one-size-fits-all science. Developing countries need space to experiment, to industrialize in their own way, and to use the tools rich countries used before telling others not to.

That’s a critical insight for Melanesia, where the space to shape our own development path has often been constrained—by donors, by consultants, or by inherited economic models.

A few of the “23 Things” worth noting

Each chapter in the book is a short, standalone myth-buster. A few stand out:

• “Making rich people richer doesn’t make the rest of us richer”—a ”reminder that trickle-down economics is more belief than fact.
• “More education won’t necessarily make a country ”richer”—challenging the assumption that investing in human capital alone guarantees development.
• “The washing machine has changed the world more than the internet”—a quirky way to highlight how overlooked technologies often shape economies.

Be pragmatic, not ideological

Chang isn’t against capitalism. He simply argues for a more pragmatic, less ideological approach. Markets have a role, but so does the state. Growth matters, but so does equity. Policy needs to be rooted in context, not copy-paste formulas.

That’s a message the Pacific should take seriously.

Final thoughts

23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism isn’t a how-to manual. It’s a call to think critically. And for a region that’s often handed ready-made policy templates, thinking critically is one of the most powerful—and underused—tools we have.

This book won’t tell Pacific policymakers exactly what to do. But it will remind them that they have more policy space, more history, and more agency than they’ve often been led to believe.

And that’s a good place to start.