ECONOMIC GROWTH - NATURE AND PROBLEMS The impact of long-run economic growth on human welfare is perhaps more keenly recognized in the mid-twentieth century than ever before. The explosion of population growth and of aspirations for higher standards of living, particularly in the underdeveloped countries of the world, emphasize this observation. What economic system is most conducive to economic growth? The Russians preach the alleged merits of communism. We advance the benefits of a free economy. The success of the neutral underdeveloped countries in achieving economic growth, with American advice and assistance, will influence the outcome of the contest between the two superpowers of the contemporary world.
The issue of growth in a context of ideological rivalry is explored in some detail in the items included in this part of the book. Henry G. Aubrey, Director of Research on Economics of Competitive Coexistence of the National Planning Association, discusses the "Meaning and Importance of Economic Growth in World Affairs." The capacity of the two protagonists to aid the underdeveloped countries, as well as the degree to which each stands as a symbol of economic progress worthy of imitating, depends upon their own respective rates of growth. A comparison of past and prospective growth trends in the two countries is presented by Dexter M. Keezer's "Growth of the United States Economy" and Gregory Grossman's "Growth of the Soviet Economy." Both men are experts. Mr. Keezer is the director of the Department of Economics, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. Gregory Grossman is Professor of Economics at the University of California and sometime member of the Russian Research Center at Harvard University.
Perhaps the two most important underdeveloped countries in the world, by virtue of area and population, are India and Communist China. Two approaches to the problem of economic growth in an underdeveloped nation are represented by the current programs of these countries. Alexander Eckstein of the Department of Economics of Harvard University examines "Red Chinese Development and Prospects" and Senator John Sherman Cooper, former Ambassador to India, discusses "The development effort of India." Solomon Fabricant, Director of Research of the National Bureau of Economic Research and Professor of Economics at New York warns us of the difficulties of making international comparisons of economic growth in "Significance and Shortcomings of economic Comparisons." The United States' foreign-aid program is its principal instrument for stimulating economic growth in the underdeveloped countries. 'The program has two major features: ( 1) economic and (2) military assistance. The former has aroused especially intense. controversy. M.F.
Millikan and W.W. Rostow discuss the issue in "Foreign Aid: next phase