Walt Rostow was an economist who developed a theory that countries progress through 5 stages of economic growth: 1) traditional society, 2) preconditions for take-off, 3) take-off, 4) drive to maturity, and 5) age of high mass consumption. Rostow took a historical approach and suggested developed countries tend to pass through these stages to reach their current level of development. However, his theory assumes all countries have an equal chance to develop without considering factors like population size, natural resources, or geography that influence development.

1. ROSTOW
STAGES OF ECONOMIC
GROWTH

2. Walt Whitman Rostow was an
economist who developed a theory of
how a country's economy develops and
grows, and in 1960 he took a crack at
addressing these issues in his book, The
Stages of Economic Growth.

3. Walt Rostow took a historical approach in suggesting that developed
countries have tended to pass through 5 stages to reach their current degree
of economic development.
Rostow captured "Stages of Economic Growth" in 1960, which presented five
steps through which all countries must pass to become developed:
1) traditional society, 2) preconditions to take-off, 3) take-off, 4) drive
to maturity and 5) age of high mass consumption.
FIVE STAGES OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT

16. Rostow assumes that all countries have an
equal chance to develop, without regard to
population size, natural resources, or
location. Singapore, for instance, has one of
the world's busiest trading ports, but this
would not be possible without its
advantageous geography as an island nation
between Indonesia and Malaysia.