But history also tells us that while governments in almost all developing countries have attempted to play that facilitating role at some point, most have failed. The economic history of the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Africa, and Asia has been marked by inefficient public investment and misguided government interventions that have resulted in many “white elephants.”
但历史经验也表明，虽然几乎所有发展中国家都曾试图在某种程度上推动产业政策，但大部分都遭遇了失败。前苏联、拉丁美洲，非洲和亚洲的经济史中都有类似的记录，效率低下的公共投资和错误引导的政府干预最终孕育出的就是许许多多的“大白象”（意指那些效率低下的巨型国有企业）。