The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto [Paperback]

W. W. Rostow (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521409284 | ISBN-13: 978-0521409285 | Publication Date: February 22, 1991 | Edition: 3

A third edition of The Stages of Economic Growth brings this classic work up to date with current economic and political changes. In a new preface and appendix, Professor Rostow extends his analysis to include recent economic and political developments as well as the advances in theory concerning nonlinear and chaotic phenomena. For those coming to his work for the first time, the original text and the introductions and appendices from earlier editions are included. This volume will not only be of interest to those concerned with the theory of economic growth, but also to students of policy since the 1960s. In the text Professor Rostow gives an account of economic growth based on a dynamic theory of production and interpreted in terms of actual societies. Five basic stages of economic growth are distinguished with detailed discussions of each stage including illustrative examples. He also applies the concept of stages of growth to an examination of the problems of military aggression and the nuclear arms race. The final chapter includes a comparison of his non-communist manifesto with Marxist theory. Materials from the second edition include an appendix in which he responds to some of his critics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the most stimulating contribution to political and economic discussion made by any academic economist since the war." The Economist

"Imaginative, stimulating statement of the economic goals of technologically underdeveloped nations, and how they can be most effectively achieved, without resort to Communism." The New York Times

"This interesting, well-written and important book projects a new light on various problems and will be much discussed. Its 167 pages of text provide a world history of the last century or two in terms of the stages of economic growth of the principal nations." Financial Times

Book Description

Five basic stages of economic growth are distinguished in an account of economic growth based on a dynamic theory of production and interpreted in terms of actual societies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 3 edition (February 22, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521409284
• ISBN-13: 978-0521409285
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dated but updated classic, and still worth a read, August 1, 2007

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (Paperback)

This is a classic study of economic growth, first published in 1960. Its general tone very much reflects its era, optimistic and technocratic. It also reflects the science and social science of its day, deterministic and linear. More obviously, the subtitle and some of the rhetoric reflect the politics of 1960, and the desire to present a coherent ideological alternative to Communism.

Obviously the world has changed. We live in an age of irony, not optimism, and we now appreciate the role of politics in both encouraging and retarding economic growth. Science is more nonlinear, nondeterministic, and political economy recognizes the existence of multiple paths to any end point. Communism is dead.

Despite that, the argument here is still worth reading. It was very influential in its day, and set the tone for a lot of work on development (whether still recognized or not). Rostow presents the material clearly and concisely. The causal links between the various stages remain very unclear to me, and to others, but that gap still represents a promising research agenda for those interested in how some countries get stuck at one level of economic development or another.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Back to the 50's, June 12, 2009

By 

not a natural "Bob Bickel" (huntington, west virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (Paperback)

Walt Whitman Rostow was a member of an aristocratic family of intellectuals who were well known during the '50's and '60's. Rostow became a close adviser to Lyndon Johnson during the Viet Nam War, and served as a never-say-die hawk.

Rostow's conviction that the U.S. would win may have been closely related to his theory of the five-stages of growth. All societies, he judged, went through five stages - traditional, pre-conditions for take-off, take-off, the drive to maturity, and the age of mass consumption.

If one takes the five stages literally, eventually all societies will reach the age of mass consumption. Modern technology would make all social systems so productive that conflict over resources of all kinds will cease to exist. With nothing material left to fight over, and with societies becoming more homogeneous, we would be at "the end of ideology." Rostow, it seems, was willing to fight on until both Viet Nams reached the comfortable age of high consumption.

As we so painfully saw, however, Rostow's stages of growth did not end the war, and even today Viet Nam is far from being a nation where high consumption prevails. Even when his theory of the stages of growth was in vogue, moreover, mention of it in a graduate eonoomics class invariably evoked smirking and prompted laughter. The stages were too ill-defined, the process of movement from one to another was a mystery, and why should all societies go through five similar stages?

In fairness to Rostow, his point of view, leading to technological triumph over need and the consequent end of conflict, was a commonplace point of view among political scientists and sociologists. See, for example, Inkeles and Smith's Becoming Modern, Daniel Bell's The End of Ideology, and Frances Fukuyama's The End of History. Besides, mainstream economists today are not enjoying any greater success than Rostow did in his time.

Rostow lived the greater part of his life through the era of the social contract, form 1946 to 1972, a period during which everyone seemed to be a technocrat and technology was sure to triumph. Sadly, as with so many others, he was wrong. I wonder what he would have made of the ethnic and religious conflicts that threaten us today?

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Look at Economic Growth, November 24, 2002

By 

Leon M. Bodevin "Do right and fear no man" (Lemoore, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (Paperback)

This book is a terrific exposition on how various countries go from traditional societies to societies of mass consumption. If you want to know what kind of preconditions are necessary for economic take-off (like 10% investment of GDP or a leading take-off sector), this book sets the standard. It is a classic work which many economists have used to build on since then. And though this book is meant as a counter to the Communist Manifesto, Rostow does not get caught up in a mundane critique of the former USSR. Instead, the reader gets some very incisive criticism on what was wrong with the ideology and implementation (the means often determine the ends) in the USSR. At the end of the day, what you get with this book is a handbook to economic growth, something useful to countries not yet in the "take-off" period and for those who wish to understand economic growth.