ABSTRACT
Although the term economic development is appropriate to describe events in developed countries, currently it is most frequently used in connection with the attempts of less developed naVions to raise their standard of living. Implicit in the latter is the transfer of technology (skills, knowledge, and tools) from the haves to the have nots. The character of this technological transfer (that is, private investment, bank loans, gifts, and so on) is the subject of much theoretical and ideological controversy. This process of technological borrowing has deep historical roots and has been the subject of economic inquiry for almost two hundred years. Both the technological diffusion and the inquiry concerning it warrant brief outlining for the light that they can cast upon contemporary problems.
