One of the most famous thinkers of the twentieth century regarding economic growth and development was WW Rostow. He was an American economist and public figure in government. Before Rostow's theory, people's attitudes towards economic development were based on the theory that modernization was represented by the Western world. The Western world had the richest and most powerful countries of that time. These countries and nations have been able to advance from the initial stages of underdevelopment. Therefore, other countries should model themselves on the model of the Western world and seek to have a more modern liberal democracy and capitalist state. With this thought, Rostow wrote his classic “Stages of Economic Growth” in 1960. He explained five steps that all countries must go through to develop. These steps include: 1) a traditional society, 2) preconditions for take-off, 3) take-off, 4) push towards maturity, and 5) age of high mass consumption. Rostow's model stated that all countries exist somewhere on this linear scale and move upward through each stage of the development process:1. Traditional Society: In Traditional Society Rostow explains that the economic system is stationary and dominated by agriculture with traditional forms of cultivation. In this phase the productivity of hourly work is lower than in the growth phases that follow. Traditional society describes a hierarchical structure in which there is little or no vertical movement or social mobility. A historical example of Rostow's “traditional society” is found in Newton's time. This phase is described as an agriculture-based economy, with intensive labor and low levels of trade. People in this society have no......middle of paper......ption, not even thinking that different nations have different priorities. For example, although Singapore is one of the most economically prosperous countries, it also has some of the highest income inequality in the world. Finally, Rostow ignores one of the most important geographical principles: where a country is located. Rostow assumes that all countries have the same opportunities for development, regardless of population size, natural resources or geographical location. Singapore, for example, has one of the busiest trading ports in the world, but this wouldn't be possible without being an island between Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition to the numerous criticisms of Rostow's model, it is still one of the most used development theories. It's a great explanation of how geography, economics and politics are all intertwined. 8) Development theories: classical and neoclassical