The world has a unique opportunity in the current decade to use global markets for the benefit of all nations and all people. Human Development Report 1992 looks at the workings of these global markets-at how they meet, or fail to meet, the needs of the world's poorest people. The global issues in this Report supplement the analysis of domestic policy issues in the first two Reports, which stressed that the real causes of poverty and human deprivation lie deep in the national policy actions of the developing countries. Improvements in external environment can help greatly, but they can never substitute for domestic reforms.

This Report attempts to place global markets in proper perspective. Competitive markets are the best guarantee for efficient production. But these markets must be open to all the people, they require a skilfully crafted regulatory framework, and they must be supplemented by judicious social policy action. "It is not a question of state or market: each has a large and irreplaceable role", as World Bank's World Development Report 1991 aptly summed up.