In this article for Acting Man, I examine the widely repeated claim that the Third World is becoming the new engine of global economic growth.

The article argues that much of this optimism rests on statistical distortions, misleading comparisons, and the misuse of aggregate GDP and purchasing power parity. Except for China, most so-called emerging markets have not achieved the structural transformation that economists, fund managers, and international organizations often claim.

Read the archived article at Acting Man via the Wayback Machine →