Pioneers in development / edtied by Gerald M. Meier and Dudly Seers c.2

The "Pioneers in Development" are those whose ar ticles, reports, and books came to dominate thinking about economic development in the late 1940s and 1950s. They shaped the subject by introducing con cepts, deducing principles, and modeling the process of development. This book recaptures the spirit and the economic thought of that pioneering period.

The pioneers listed on the front of the jacket were asked to reassess the main themes of their early work and to reconsider their assumptions, concepts, and policy prescriptions in relation to the way the course of development has proceeded since their pioneering days. Their individual chapters now recall the intel lectual excitement, expectations, and activism of that unique period. Commentary is provided by econo mists of the succeeding generation, who reappraise their elders' ideas with the benefit of hindsight.

Not only do the chapters by the pioneers display autobiographical charm, but, taken as a set, they also offer an unusual opportunity for a retrospective view of what has happened to development economics. And the retrospective view naturally has implications for assessing the present and looking to the future. What are the strands of continuity in development thought? What are the recurrent issues? What are the unsettled questions?

An introductory historical chapter by Gerald M. Meier sets the stage, outlining some of the intellec tual trends and institutional features that shaped the political and economic environment of the formative period for the pioneers. The final survey chapter by Paul P. Streeten synthesizes various issues in devel opment thought and points toward the resolution of unsettled questions in the subject.