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= The stages of economic growth, a non-Communist manifesto = = The Stages of Economic Growth =
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'''The Stages of Economic Growth''' (DOI: [[https://doi.org/10.2307/2591077]]) was written by Walt Whitman Rostow. It was published in the Economic History Review vol. 12 (1959). '''The Stages of Economic Growth''' (DOI: [[https://doi.org/10.2307/2591077]]) was written by [[UnitedStates/WaltWRostow|Walt W. Rostow]]. It was published in the Economic History Review volume 12 (1959).
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This article is largely about the latter.

The author's five stages theory goes as follows:

 1. Traditional society
    * Low production, mostly devoted to agriculture
    * Low socioeconomic mobility with power concentrated in the landed
    * pre-Newtonian philosophy/science
      * "Newton is here used as a symbol for that watershed in history when men came widely to believe that the external world was subject to a few knowable laws, and was systematically capable of productive manipulation." (p.4)
 2. Preconditions for take-off
    * Western Europe experienced a gradual take-off, rest of the world experienced a sudden (sometimes literal) invasion
    * Capitalism and nationalism
    * Communication, transportation, and trade all widen
    * Financial institutions
 3. Take-off
    * Early investments into manufacturing yield high returns
    * Agriculture becomes more efficient
    * Trickle down economics lifts everyone's quality of life
 4. Drive to maturity
    * Economy outgrows population
    * Extractive export industries replaced by 'mature' industries
    * Society reorganizes to fit around new economy
 5. Age of high mass-consumption
    * Industries arrive to durable consumer goods and services
    * Substantial population living above subsistence level
    * Urbanism
    * Investment into welfare and security rather than growth
 6. Beyond consumption
    * Author believed the U.S. was building into a sixth stage contemporaneously
    * Baby boom
    * Disinterest in growth
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CategoryRicottone CategoryRicottone CategoryTodoRead CategoryReadingNotes

The Stages of Economic Growth

There are a pair of works known by this name: an article and a book expanding on the article.

The Stages of Economic Growth (DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2591077) was written by Walt W. Rostow. It was published in the Economic History Review volume 12 (1959).

The Stages of Economic Growth, a Non-Communist Manifesto was written by Walt Whitman Rostow in 1960.

This article is largely about the latter.

The author's five stages theory goes as follows:

  1. Traditional society
    • Low production, mostly devoted to agriculture
    • Low socioeconomic mobility with power concentrated in the landed
    • pre-Newtonian philosophy/science
      • "Newton is here used as a symbol for that watershed in history when men came widely to believe that the external world was subject to a few knowable laws, and was systematically capable of productive manipulation." (p.4)
  2. Preconditions for take-off
    • Western Europe experienced a gradual take-off, rest of the world experienced a sudden (sometimes literal) invasion
    • Capitalism and nationalism
    • Communication, transportation, and trade all widen
    • Financial institutions
  3. Take-off
    • Early investments into manufacturing yield high returns
    • Agriculture becomes more efficient
    • Trickle down economics lifts everyone's quality of life
  4. Drive to maturity
    • Economy outgrows population
    • Extractive export industries replaced by 'mature' industries
    • Society reorganizes to fit around new economy
  5. Age of high mass-consumption
    • Industries arrive to durable consumer goods and services
    • Substantial population living above subsistence level
    • Urbanism
    • Investment into welfare and security rather than growth
  6. Beyond consumption
    • Author believed the U.S. was building into a sixth stage contemporaneously
    • Baby boom
    • Disinterest in growth


CategoryRicottone CategoryTodoRead CategoryReadingNotes

TheStagesOfEconomicGrowth (last edited 2026-02-14 23:59:17 by DominicRicottone)