Since the beginning of the 21st century, the economy of Bangladesh has surprised even the most astute observers and development agencies at home and abroad. In recent years, the economy has been resilient and impressive. In a pioneering book in the early 1970's Faaland and Parkinson called Bangladesh, A Test Case for Development. Their point was that if Bangladesh could succeed, there was hope for other poor and less developed nations in the world. Forty years after this challenge, today Bangladesh presents a model of how a nation can overcome great odds to emerge as a successful economy. This book chronicles some of the successes, strategies and hopes for the future. Additionally, it presents sound policy recommendations for the continued success of the Bangladesh Economy in the 21st century.

The papers are organized in four sections and twenty chapters. The book includes contributions on a wide variety of economic development topics from a distinguished panel of contributors. The authors are based in different parts of the world and bring their varied expertise to their research. The reader will appreciate the diversity of background and expertise of the contributors that has produced an extraordinary healthy mix of perspectives, an important strength of this collection. These papers were presented in two unique conferences organized by the Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI) with partners in 2008 and 2009 at the Ash Institute, Harvard University, Boston, USA.