ABSTRACT

What is meant by development? Though this may seem to be a deceptively simple question, the answer to this query shapes how one proceeds to evaluate the positions of different countries as to their relative levels of development, to

judge the forces that are considered contributory to fostering future progress, and how one might begin to formulate appropriate public policies that can facilitate the pursuit of a society’s development goals. Knowing what is meant and what is not meant by development is thus a necessary first step if, as the British economist Joan Robinson insisted, one is to be able to ask the right questions.