<P>Why Isn't the Whole World Developed</P>
<P>by Easterlin</P>
<P>The worldwide spread of modem economic growth has depended chiefly on the diffusion<BR>of a body of knowledge concerning new production techniques. The acquisition<BR>and application of this knowledge by different countries has been governed<BR>largely by whether their populations have acquired traits and motivations associated<BR>with formal schooling. To judge from the historical experience of the world's<BR>twenty-five largest nations, the establishment and expansion of formal schooling has<BR>depended in large part on political conditions and ideological influences. The limited<BR>spread of modem economic growth before World War I1 has thus been due, at<BR>bottom, to important political and ideological differences throughout the world that<BR>affected the timing of the establishment and expansion of mass schooling. Since<BR>World War I1 there has been growing uniformity among the nations of the world,<BR>modern education systems have been established almost everywhere, and the spread<BR>of modem economic growth has noticeably accelerated.</P>
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