The structure and development of the world economic: some problems of economic analysis

Abstract

Discussion on the theme of "Development in the Eighties" requires to be adequately situated in terms of appropriate analytical foundations and through correct identification of the central issues. This paper seeks to provide a background that might aid in that discussion. First, I review some of the facts and figures describing the main contours of the contemporary world economy viewed in broad aggregative terms. One of the central problems that this raises is the question of the causes of the persistence of relative retardation in a large group of underdeveloped economies which together constitute a sizeable sector of the world economy. There are two fundamentally different approaches to the explanation of this problem and both give rise to quite different implications for policy. Moreover, the differences between these two approaches lie at the heart of contemporary debates in world politics I review such as, for instance, in the so-called North-South dialogue. these approaches and identify the policy recommendations which follow from them.