ABSTRACT
What is meant by development? Though this may seem to be a deceptively simple question, the answer shapes how one judges different countries as to their respective levels of development. It affects what factors we consider as contributing to progress, and our answer to what development is will influence the public policies aimed at achieving 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 once insisted, we are to ask the right questions.
