Melkote, Srinivas R. and Allen H. Merriam, "The Third World: Definitions and New Perspectives on Development"
The authors analyze the term "Third World" and how it is viewed today, as well as how we view the issue of development and the ability of a country to move from Third World status to developed nation. The Third World covers the non-industrialized and non-Soviet bloc countries (when there was a Soviet bloc). Indeed, the authors ask if it is still meaningful to speak of the Third World given that the Second World, the Soviet bloc, has dissolved, and the authors find that it is still a useful designation. There is also no acceptable alternative nomenclature to replace it. Sometimes the term "non-aligned nations" is sued, but this is less an economic and more a geopolitical designation.
The authors then consider the issue of development, its meaning, and various theories regarding how it operates and how it can be nurtured. The orthodox paradigm contains an economic model based on the neoclassical approach of Adam Smith and others. However, different theorists suggested different processes operating in development based on assessments of modernization and the role of resources and resource development.
One section of interest in this chapter refers to "New perspectives on Development," noting that the new approaches of the seventies and eighties did not necessarily eliminate the quantitative approach, but what did happen was a strengthening of the qualitative and normative approaches as the concept of development was broadened.
Gonzalez, Alfonso, "Indexes and Trends in Socioeconomic Development"
Gonzalez says one of the most interesting and controversial problems in development is deciding how to assess the level of development attained by individual countries. The most popular method classifies countries on the basis of GNP or GDP. Other factors may also be included, such as high-income oil exporters, ...