FOUNDATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ECONOMICS: WALT ROSTOW ON THE STAGES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND ANTI-COMMUNISM
Abstract
This article examines the scholarly contribution and political activity of Walt W. Rostow (1916–2003) through a historical-interpretative approach. It focuses on his stages of economic growth as an alternative to Marxist interpretations of development and as part of broader post-war debates in development economics. The analysis shows that Rostow’s stage theory, anti-communist worldview and involvement in U.S. development policy were closely related but should not be conflated, while U.S. strategy in Vietnam cannot be treated as a direct application of his theory. In retrospect, elements of Rostow’s model remain useful for interpreting post-socialist transformations and China’s development, but its explanatory power is limited by linearity and an assumption of self-sustaining growth.
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