Rostow

Walt Whitman Rostow (1916–2003) was an American economist and political theorist known for his work in development economics and modernization theory. He taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin and served in advisory and policy-planning roles within the U.S. government during the 1960s.

Rostow is best known for The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (1960), in which he proposed a five-stage model of development: traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and age of high mass consumption. The framework argues that sustained economic growth results from investment, technological progress, and social and political changes that transform economies from agrarian to industrialized systems. The model became influential in both academic and policy circles and helped shape development strategies during the Cold War.

In policy circles, Rostow advocated growth-oriented approaches as a means to promote stability and counter extremist influences, shaping U.S. development assistance and foreign policy debates of the era. He remained active as a scholar and adviser, contributing to discussions on modernization, economic policy, and the links between development and security.

Rostow’s work is considered foundational to modernization theory, but it has faced critique for its linear view of development, its underestimation of structural inequalities and power dynamics in the global economy, and its assumptions about universal applicability of growth pathways.