Building on Keynesian theoretical insights, Governments made employment, stability and growth important subjects of public policy and took responsibility for assuring their citizens a degree of economic wellbeing, with such steps leading to the creation of the welfare state. In Europe and Japan, industrial policies were key elements in post-war reconstruction. Poor countries would need to move away from a dependence on primary exports and the rural economy and develop manufacturing industries in order to foster more dynamic growth processes, major investments in infrastructure and new activities would be needed to create the right initial conditions.