Amazon.com description: Product Description: Now in its twelfth annual edition, the World Development Report is an essential reference on the world economy and the state of social and economic development. Like earlier editions, the 1989 Report incorporates research from all over the world, analyzing the conditions that surround the growth process and offering insights on appropriate policy measures for the future. Focusing on the decline of foreign investment since the early 1980s, and showing how Third World nations have been left more than ever to rely on their own resources for continuing development, the 1989 Report analyzes the roots of financial-sector weakness in the Third World and discusses methods for strengthening domestic financial systems so that they may better perform their growth-facilitating role. With its timely survey and synthesis of contemporary economic issues around the world, the World Development Report is invaluable in a variety of courses, particularly those in economic development, international economics, and international politics.