ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author, a development economist, shares his own experience in early life, schooling, graduate studies and real-life development. The biggest change of all to the direction of the author's whole life had already followed from his decision in 1956 to become a conscientious objector to military service. This was on evangelical Christian grounds, just after finishing the undergraduate university degree. Alison Bishop and Dudley Seers are two of the four people who influenced the author's thinking and work as an economist and towards life in general, along with Mahbub ul Haq and Jim Grant. Alison is the pioneering development economist and demonstrated an approach to real-life economics. Dudley's whole approach to development was "structuralist", analysing each country's problems and possibilities in terms of the specifics of its economic and political structure, its size and population, the specifics of what it produces and exports and imports, its government and public finance, its saving, investment and household behaviour.
