Aspects of development and underdevelopment

Great progress has been made in the developing countries in the past twenty-five years: economic growth has led to a rise in per capita income, an expansion of education, and an increase in industrialisation. Yet the World Bank reports that some 800 million people in the Third World still live in hunger and misery.

Joan Robinson shows how - the economic mechanisms that produce wealth in the midst of growing misery can be understood. For this purpose she uses the classical theory of accumulation and the modern theory of international trade and finance. Her simple, but penetrating analysis illuminates the problems of poverty, accumulation, industriali sation and trade, while exposing misleading conceptions of the Third World. Throughout the book gene ral principles are demonstrated with particular examples, making those principles both clearer and more relevant. Finally she concludes that the economic problems of the Third World remain rooted in deep-seated political conflicts of national and international interests.