Why trade liberalisation is good for growth

There are three titles that might have been assigned fro this paper: 1) Why is growth so rapid with outer-oriented trade strategies?; 2) Do countries with outer-oriented trade strategies grow faster? and 3) the one actually assigned. They are no the same. Of the three, the first is probably the most difficult to answer. The second is a factual question, and the empirical demonstration is straightforward. The third, by focussing on trade liberalisation, implies that developing countries have highly restrictive trade regimes and thus asks if a move away from those regimes is good for growth. It is far easier to show why, especially over time, liberalising a restrictive trade regime, is conducive to more rapid growth than it is to show why outer oriented trade strategies have been so highly successful.