| Abstract: | The National Economic Association introduced the W. Arthur Lewis Distinguished Lecture series in December 1985 at the Allied
Social Sciences Association meetings in New York City. The Lewis Lecture is named in honor of the 1979 Nobel Laureate in Economics,
much of whose research has been devoted to the problem of Third World economic development. In the same spirit, the Lewis
Lectures are intended to explore the themes of global inequality. Third World poverty, and prospects and possibilities for
change. The inaugural Lewis address was delivered by Lance Taylor, professor of economics and nutrition at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Taylor, an immensely creative economist, has led contemporary development economists in the analysis
of disparities in the structural relationships between Northern (that is, more-developed) and Southern (that is, less-developed)
countries. Taylor’s subject matter, “Trade and Growth,” constituted both a provocative assessment of the stale of knowledge
in this area and a compelling indictment of the insights offered by conventional economics. Taylor’s address, presented December
28, 1985, provides a sterling beginning to what promises to be an important lecture series. |
