Introduction: Objectives and policies for economic growth

The decade of the nineteen sixties opened on a hopeful economic note. As reviewed in part II of the present Survey, the year 1959 witnessed new peaks in world production and incomes, following upon the recovery from the 1957/58 recession in the United States and from the cessation of growth in 1958 in western Europe. The upturn in industrial activity strengthened the markets for a number of primary commodities, thereby providing more favourable external conditions for financing the imports of capital goods essential to the continuation of economic development in the less developed countries. In the centrally planned economies, the rate of expansion of output continued virtually unchanged from the high levels of recent years, though the progress in agricultural production in relation to long-term objectives still lagged significantly behind that of industry, so that prospects for consumption in 1960 are less favourable than for investment.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Climate Action