The problem of income disparities in developing countries is constantly gaining in importance. Clearly a pure growth strategy alone cannot be effective and disparities are steadily increasing. What is needed for an effective policy first of all are adequate statistics and indicators.

The United Nations Committee for Development Planning (CDP) in its annual report has attempted to formulate a development strategy for the 1990s. We have asked Udo E. Simonis, a member of the CDP, to summarize the main findings and recommendations of that report.

Government intervention in developing countries has often been biased towards the support of urban industries and the urban population. The resulting distortions in exchange rates and in the prices of the factors of production have had serious detrimental effects on rural areas. A gradual...

The emphasis of development policies has for many years been placed on primarily growth-oriented development strategies. Although the latter have indeed induced an astounding increase in real GNP levels in Third World countries, they have not been able to decisively reduce existing social...

Recent reflections on development policy have tried to eliminate the weak points in the economically oriented development theories which have dominated development planning up to now, and the traditional modernisation theories complementary to them. The propagation of strategies geared towards...