One thing that stuck with me from an eco-for-non-majors course years ago is that it's pretty much impossible for Third World nations to catch up. They'd have to produce some ridiculous GDP for an exceptionally long time. Worse, the calculations showed that it's a next-to-impossible struggle JUST TO MAINTAIN THE PRESENT GAP.

There have been a couple of rare exceptions (the "Asian Tigers" miracle prolly the most famous), but every time I hear "Third World" I shake my head. Dire, dire straights.

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...my gawd, there's more >> mememomi

I thought so. I've been reading some stuff on international debt relief by African writers, the way it looks to them. It put me in mind of a concept I learned in elementary school (I found myself in one of the schools in which they test new educational techniques in grades 4-6...one reason I'm such a supporter of fixing public schools is that I know from personal experience they can work). The concept is the economic sphere of influence, and it was the imperialist technique that followed religious missionaries.