Capital, Technology, and Development

Abstract

In the mythology of bourgeois social science, capital and technology are the magic that presumably will bring the entire world into the Garden of Eden. Libraries, UN agencies, various economic institutes around the world are bulging with reports and studies telling us how a country can get out of the stage of underdevelopment, how it can lift itself out of the quagmire of poverty and misery. All sorts of ideas and proposals are contained in these publications, but there is one common thread. If you just put in enough capital, if you just introduce enough modern technology, the underdeveloped societies will be vitalized and will start growing on their own.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.