SEMAINE D'ÉTUDE SUR LE ROLE DE L’ANALYSE ECONOMETRIQUE ETC. 108: 
THE SCIENTIFIC BASE 
dr ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
PHASES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
(.1. The essential characteristic of an underdeveloped 
country is an extremely low level of living, that is, inadequate 
supply of food, clothes, housing, drugs and other consumer 
goods, and also lack of facilities for education, care of health, 
social security, cultural amenities, etc., for the nation as a 
whole. It is possible to make available small quantities of 
consumer goods by direct imports or by domestic production, 
on a small scale, with the help of imported machinery. In most 
of the underdeveloped countries it is, however, not possible, for 
lack of necessary foreign exchange, to import or to produce, 
with imported machinery, enough consumer goods for the 
people as a whole. In India, the first textile mill was established 
in 1817; and India gradually became the second biggest 
producer of textiles, next only to America. One hundred and 
fifty years later, India would still remain underdeveloped. The 
production of textiles or small quantities of other consumer 
goods for a small part of the nation cannot, by itself, lead to 
industrialisation and economic development. 
i.2. Economic development can occur only by increasing 
-he per capita production of the nation as a whole, through an 
increasing use of machinery driven by steam or electricity as 
a substitute for human and animal labour. In countries with 
appreciable natural resources, it is necessary to establish the 
basic engineering and power industries to enable the manu- 
facture of both consumer and capital goods within the country 
"14] Mahalanobis I - pag. 13