McKinley, Terry and John Weeks. "A Proposed Strategy for Growth, Employment, and Poverty Reduction in Uzbekistan". In Economic Alternatives for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction: Progressive Policy Recommendation for Developing Countries, edited by Terry McKinley, 241-271. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

McKinley, Terry and John Weeks. "A Proposed Strategy for Growth, Employment, and Poverty Reduction in Uzbekistan". In Economic Alternatives for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction: Progressive Policy Recommendation for Developing Countries, edited by Terry McKinley, 241-271. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

• This is a paper on a specific economic development strategy proposed for the Republic of Uzbekistan and written specifically for publication as part of a larger work. The book as a whole was commissioned by the UNDP, and is also used for internal distribution.
• Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan suffered a step economic decline. This decline was more precipitous than that in the Eastern Bloc -- whose members were more developed and had significant trade with non-communist countries by the late 1980s -- but less so than in any other Soviet Republic (243).
• Growth in Uzbekistan also recovered more quickly than any other former Soviet republic except the Baltic States, which benefited from massive capital inflows from Western Europe (244). While Uzbekistan's import-substitution regime prevented the collapse of domestic manufacturing and agricultural sectors, it has also caused Uzbekistan to trail other former Soviet republics in growth by the early 2000s, as their economies expanded quickly following liberalization (245).
• Uzbekistan's growth rates have not translated into poverty reduction, as poverty remained almost unchanged, especially in rural areas, despite years of respectable growth rates (245-246).
• Without significant adjustment in economic policy, to increase the 'poverty elasticity of growth', Uzbekistan will not be able to meet its Millennium Development Goal of having poverty by 2015. It would either need to decrease inequality from 0.45 to 0.40 through targeted social programs or increase growth to 7% to achieve this goal (246-247).
• The authors strongly recommend the strategy of reducing income inequality over increasing growth, as the growth rate in Uzbekistan is heavily dependent on external export markets beyond the control of domestic economic policy (247).
• The current rate of poverty elasticity of growth is 0.3-0.4, meaning that a growth of 1% GDP can be expected to result in a decrease a poverty by less than half a percentage point. The goal would be to increase this rate to 0.5 by the end of 2015 (260).
• To sustain adequate rates of GDP growth for desired poverty reduction, Uzbekistan needs to increase internal investment in the economy to around 25% of GDP, a decision constrained by outdated fiscal policy (247). Consistent budget surpluses indicate that Uzbekistan is funding public investment based on account surpluses, rather than expected benefits. The withholding of investment funds is preventing Uzbekistan from attaining its economic potential (247-249).
• The negative economic effects of this contemporary investment strategy are demonstrated compared to debt financing. If the funds are spent on public investment, then their projects represented increased revenue in the future. The cost for the investment is the same, but the Uzbekistani model also costs 'potential' revenue from the investment compared to debt financing (248).
• Uzbekistan's high budget surpluses combined with its significant trade surplus demonstrate high levels of saving relative to borrowing at a time when the country needs more public investment to support growth rates. This means that the primary task to increase growth is to mobilize current savings (250).
• There are so many graphs and tables. Like check this shit out dog. Like if you need a table or chart of shit showing some economics and financial records then this chapter got that shit covered.
• These increases in investment, however, will not be possible without a change in Uzbekistan's conservative monetary policies. Contemporary Uzbekistan matches its monetary policy to a 3-4% inflation rate, despite this policy reducing room for additional investment financing or lower interest rates (249).
• Preferably Uzbekistan should abandon its current monetary policy and instead build a new policy around lowering interest rates to stimulate growth, weakening the currency to increase export potential, and increase total money supply to finance public investment (249).
• Contemporary economic conditions and institutions favor public investment. Specifically, the decline of the debt from 42% of GDP to 23% of GDP in 2006 has created more fiscal flexibility for investment financing. The Fund for Reconstruction and Development is also promising, as it could serve as the primary tool for mobilizing current public savings (255).
• Financing modeling indicates that private savings also far outweigh private investments in a way that is acting as a drag on potential economic growth, which would greatly benefit from increased private investment. However, the solution to this issue is the long-term development of the banking sector, meaning that in the short-term and medium-term solution investment will have come from the public sector (256).
• Uzbekistan should generate an industrial policy which promotes expanded investment in an active attempt to 'crowd-in', or positively encourage, private investment, and support this with an inflationary exchange rate regime favoring international competitiveness of export goods (256-257).
• The government can encourage private investment by creating joint projects with low buy-in costs, subsidizing commercial loans, and creating investment-matching schemes for the private sector (257).
• The government should also structure an industrial policy which favors promoting of sectors with high potential for employment and clear export potential. This should drive both areas of public investment and the creation of tax and subsidy schemes benefiting private investment in those sectors (257).
• The authors recommend the creation of a state investment bank to help mobilize private funds for investment. This bank could likely be funded by profits from trade surpluses and pension savings, with additional funds coming from punitive tax laws punishment people who neither save nor re-invest commercial profits (258).
• Increasing the employment generated by economic growth can be achieved by directing investment away from capital-intensive economic sectors like energy, mining, and transport, and recreating a new import substitution plan based on increasing production in employment-heavy sectors, like chemicals, light industry, and food processing (260).
• The government should stop its favoritism of small and medium enterprises at the exclusion of big business. While these generate growth, small businesses do not create positive employment conditions with living wages. Supporting medium and large enterprises that pay poverty-reducing wages would be a better plan (261-262). 
• Employment levels could also be increased by fully universalizing the completion of 12-years of education among all populations, and strengthening links between educational institutions and industry. This would create more opportunities for mutually beneficial vocational training (261).
• Immediate and medium-term relief for unemployment can be achieved through increased use of mahalla social programs. An increase in the portion of the national Employment Fund from 0.1% of GDP to 0.5% of GDP could fund numerous revenue-generating public works programs employing those identified as most in need by poverty-stricken mahalla (261).
• A economic plan dedicated to poverty reduction has to concentrate on increasing the investment in rural infrastructure and services, as over 70% of Uzbekistan's poor live in rural areas. The share of public investment in agriculture should double to 10%, preferably using capital from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development, as the current system of agricultural banks have little money (262-263).
• Of the current systems of land tenure in Uzbekistan, the dehqon smallholders are by far the most production, despite owning only around 12% of land. The government should break up for shirkat collective farms and new private farms for use by dehqon small holders, while simultaneously making credit and public agricultural services more available to dehqon owners (263-265).
• Uzbekistan does a great job of providing social services, education, and healthcare to its entire population, and should focus during the Millennium Development Goals on improve the quality of such services. For education, the authors recommend introducing more funding to help low-income students and increase the rates of pre-school enrollment -- by 45% to urban areas and 20% in rural areas (266).
• The health care system in Uzbekistan is similarly expansive but lacks in quality of services rendered. The government should increase care specifically allotted to infectious diseases, especially AIDS and TB, and maternal and infant health. Much funding could come from savings if the system was reoriented towards primary care rather than specialist tertiary care services (266-267).
• The paper notes many positives about the present mahalla system for distributing social welfare funds, but it believes that two adjustments are needed to increase effectiveness. The input of funds needs to be increased in total, so that welfare keeps up with cost of living, and a national poverty-reduction scheme needs to be created so that poorer mahalla start receiving more funds (267-268).