In this favourable context, heavy state intervention in the process of development, and World Bank and other international support for infrastructure and capital-building projects in poor countries, fostered the expectation that capitalist economies could deliver growth, poverty alleviation and international convergence, at least as rapidly as their socialist rivals. It was difficult to find evidence that equality-generating processes would eventually prevail either in the global economy or within most developing countries. The ensuing debates were, inevitably, framed by controversies surrounding both economic theory and policy in rich countries, especially the disputes between the Keynesians and the monetarists.