The Recognition of the Third World

Among the world’s nations in the fifties the rich got richer and the poor, in most cases, got poorer. Between 1955 and 1960 real GNP per capita rose by 10 per cent in the developed countries; for the developing countries the comparable figure was, on the average, 4 per cent. This relative decline of the poor nations has been a feature of the period with which this book is concerned. It has revealed a fissure in the international economy the consequences of which in human, economic and political terms it would be hard to exaggerate. It is with us now: it will remain with us for decades to come. It is essential that we get it in perspective. This chapter attempts to do that for the first part of our period.