ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the process of economic development as seen by three schools of thought, namely the neo-classical, neo-Marxist and structuralist schools. To the neo-classical economists underdevelopment represents a temporary deviation from an equilibrium state, which is automatically redressed by the ‘incentive-providing mechanisms of the market’. The neo-Marxist approach to development is based on the economic theories of Karl Marx. There are good reasons why both the classical and structuralist schools prefer to explain the phenomenon of underdevelopment in non-Marxist terms. The chapter looks at the nature and extent of the economic problem as it exists in the Ciskei today. Owing to a lack of data it has become customary to define and measure the economic problem in developing countries in terms of the number of people who are unemployed and underemployed. The chapter deals with some general policy implications, and examines the role of the informal sector in the development of the Ciskei.
