Economic Progress and Prospects in the Third World: Lessons of Development Experience Since 1945

Economic Progress and Prospects in the Third World combines an elegant and persuasive summary of development progress over the last 40 years with detailed case studies of two major developing countries, Nigeria and India.

Beginning with an overview of changes in development theory and practice since 1945, the book distinguishes three main phases: the 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, the illusory debt-led growth of the 1970s, and the 'Lost Decade' of the 1980s. It explains how successes in some of the earlier phases led to difficulties later on. The authors then describe the specific ways in which these changes have affected two nations: Nigeria, a relatively open economy, India, a relatively closed economy. In conclusion, they draw on the lessons of global and domestic development for a discussion of prospects in the 1990s.

This important study will prove invaluable to policymakers and economists who seek to use the experience of the past to solve the problems of the future.

The late H.W. Singer, formerly Emeritus Professor and Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK and Sumit Roy, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, School of International Relations and Strategic Studies, Jadavpur University, India