Expanding the Production Possibility Frontier of Sri Lanka: A Historical Economic Perspective on Technological Progress

Abstract

Introduction: The level of living conditions in a developed country such as the United States of America, Japan or the United Kingdom is not anymore a secret for any of the Sri Lankans living in this information age. Moreover, no one in the 21st Century would reject to have that level of comfort in his or her life. Therefore, the central question that gets to one’s mind is that how they have achieved such development while we are struggling for it for decades even after independence. Alternatively, we can ask the same question, “how did they achieve that much of development while we are not having”? Answering this question is not an easy task. Even the shorted list of answers is so long, to name a few; effects of colonization, typical Sri Lankan culture, religion, corrupted political culture, bad institutions, and poor technological progress. Not to argue with the list, since it is not a complete one and the order can be different as one think. However, if we analyze it with world history, it suggests that the main culprit is the poor technological progress in the country during the past two centuries. Hence, the main objectives of this article are to answer the over raided question of “why Sri Lanka could not achieve the living conditions that the developed countries currently enjoying” and “how the future policy directions should be formulated to catch up the developed world” in a historical economic perfective.