Fourth Edition
In this fourth edition of his textbook, E. Wayne Nafziger analyzes
the economic development of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and East-
Central Europe. The treatment is suitable for students who have taken
a basic college course in the principles of economics. This compre-
hensive and clearly written text explains the growth in real income
per person and income disparities within and among developing coun-
tries. The author explains the reasons for the fast growth of Pacific
Rim countries, Brazil, Poland, and (recently) India, and the increasing
economic misery and degradation of large parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
The book also examines China and other postsocialist economies as
low- and middle-income countries, without, however, overshadowing
the primary emphasis on the third world. The text, written by a scholar
active in economic research in developing countries, is replete with real-
world examples. The exposition emphasizes the themes of poverty,
inequality, unemployment, the environment, and deficiencies of people
in less-developed countries, rather than esoteric models of aggregate
economic growth. The guide to the readings, through bibliography as
well as Web sites with links to development resources, makes this book
useful for students writing research papers.
E. Wayne Nafziger is University Distinguished Professor of Economics
at Kansas State University. He is the author and editor of sixteen books
and numerous journal articles on development economics, income dis-
tribution, development theory, the economics of conflict, the Japanese
economy, and entrepreneurship. His book, Inequality in Africa: Polit-
ical Elites, Proletariat, Peasants, and the Poor (Cambridge University
Press), was cited by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Book for
1989–1990. Professor Nafziger is also the author of The Debt Crisis
in Africa (1993) and the editor (with Frances Stewart and Raimo
Vayrynen) of the two-volume War, Hunger, and Displacement: The
Origins of Humanitarian Emergencies (2000). He has held research
positions at the U.N. University’s World Institute for Development
Economics Research, the Carter Center, the East–West Center, and in
Nigeria, India, Japan, and Britain. Economic Development
FOURTH EDITION
E. Wayne Nafziger
Kansas State University