Implementing industrial policy is very hard — as demonstrated by examples like Ajaokuta. As should be obvious, countries that choose to do so should fully own and implement industrial policy with eyes wide open. In brief, this means having coalitions of elites who actually want to develop their societies, and not just a bunch of two bit rent-seekers. Successful industrial policy shouldn’t mean a suspension of the rules of economics (Africa is littered with too many examples like the infamous Ajaokuta steel plant already). Neither should it mean rushing to mimic whatever other countries are doing, or implementing “global best practices” even if (or especially if?) sanctioned by World Bank economists. Instead, it’s a guided management of parts of the process of development that should start with a full internalization of the rules of economics, and then going about tweaking them for context on the road to ever deeper market efficiency. Stated differently, the bending of certain rules of economics must always b…