Scope of the Chapter

To analyze the economics of developing countries, we need some basic facts about their growth and development, including an evolutionary biological approach to development, a sketch of economic development in ancient and medieval times (pre-fifteenth century), world leaders in gross domestic product (GDP) capita from about 1500 to the present, the origins of modern economic growth and why it was largely confined to the West before the twentieth century, non-Western (Japanese, South Korean, Taiwanese, Soviet, and Chinese) growth models or approaches, the range of growth in the last 100 to 150 years, a concrete illustration of the power of exponential growth in North America in the last 125 years, the modern periods of fastest growth, the economic growth of Europe and Japan after World War II, the growth of less developed countries (LDCs) before and after World War II, and the diverse economic performance among LDCs by country and world region. Finally, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly perceives today's major international problem as the widening income gap between rich and poor countries. Has income indeed widened, and is narrowing the gap an important goal? The last section draws on earlier sections to ask whether income levels between developed countries (DCs) and LDCs are converging or diverging.