Domingo, Mardolf S.

BSBA 2-A

December 17, 2019

Insight Paper

The article is about China’s growth, how it became a developed country through
Rostow’s “take-off theory. It is about how countries could “take-off” into a self-sustained
stage of growth by raising their savings investment to a percentage above their Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Rostow introduces the five stages of a society’s economic
development as (1) the traditional society, (2) pre-conditions for take-off, (3) take-off, (4)
drive to maturity, and (5) the age of high mass-consumption. The first stage tends to
focus on the agricultural sector of the society or of the economy. The second stage says
that in order to proceed to the next stage the society must be welcoming to the new
changes that science and technology is willing to offer and take more risks. This stage
is estimated to last for decades or even for a century. The third stage or also known as
the central stage takes about 20 to 30 years to execute, and in this stage the society
transforms from agricultural focused to manufacturing or industrialization, and also
suggests that the manufacturing entities should specialize on a single product to assure
that exportation would be a success. The fourth stage about Rostow describes an
economy as having become mature, and thus capable of propelling a self-sustained
growth via industry diversification and development throughout the country. The fifth
and final stage states that people’s living standards rises, and the economy now
focuses on the tertiary sector or the service sector. America was the first nation to enter
this stage, followed by Germany. During China’s Mao Era, Chairman Mao Zedong and
the incumbent government launched a major social and economic reform titled the
Great Leap Forward (GLF) occurring from 1958 to 1961. From this blossomed a great
and developed communist country. Without the GLF China might not make the same
Net National Income in 2015 which was 8.31 trillion US dollars. This started around the
post-war period. Any economy can thrive and be a developed country, all it takes is
time, lots and lots of time.