Economics(Paper-4) - Shivaji University

4. The Take-off stage is not empirically vindicated in the same manner in which
Rostow Presented it:
Ian Orummand, Kuznets, David Wightman and Myrdal have examined the economic
history of various nations and came to the conclusion that all that is elaborated in the
Rostow’s stages is not realized in the same fluid manner.
5. Rostow ignores the “Bumps and Crash-Leadings” of the growth process:
Habakkuk, Sen and Streeton have pointed out that if Rostow was keen to use the
aeronautical metaphor, ‘take-off, he ought to have taken into consideration some other
aeronautical happenings also. There are ‘lumps and crash-leadings and nose-dive’
crashes also. There can be abortive take-offs.
6. An Economy can reach the stage of self-sustained stage without passing
through all the five stages:
Gerald Meier has even seen the possibility of a country reaching the fifth stage
without even passing through one particular stage of economic development, as
suggested by Rostow. One complete stage may be skipped over.A country with low
population burden and abundant natural resources may reach the stage of self-sustaining
stage of mass consumption early, by-passing one stage.
7. The last stage of ‘Mass-consumption’ may not reached at all:
Kuznets, Meier and Cairncross have raised doubts whether the last stage of ‘Massconsumption’
can continue eternally.
8. There are limits to growth:
Natural resources, manpower and capital set the upper limit of growth. A time
comes when a country should be regarded as “fully developed”, even if it has not reached
the standards of USA or any other country.
Despite of these critics the stages of economic development are most important
to know the development of human beings.
2.2.2 Lewis Theory of Unlimited Supplies of Labour :
Lewis developed his model to develop less developed countries. Lewis says there
is ‘absolute surplus population’ in less developed countries. Labour and natural
resources are adequate but capital is lacking here. Lewis wrote in his book “Economic
Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour” in 1954 that using the abundant
population less developed countries can grow as developed countries. Lewis developed
his model for development of closed as well as open economy discussed as follows.
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
18
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567