> -Italy, the Scandinavian countries and Japan were countries of intermediate
> -level of development by 1900, the term underdeveloped is not good for them,
> -Japan, for instance had already high levels of litteracy and was a minor
> -imperialist country by 1900.
On the contrary, underdeveloped is an excellent term for them. Italy was mostly a peasant economy in 1900, while Japan was a country of textile mills and mines; in relation to Britain or the US, both were about where southern China is vis-a-vis Japan today. Finland was little more than a timber-felling economy. All were integrated into the Victorian-era world-system on a range of levels.
> -South Korea still was not able to achieve "complete" development. Its per
> -capita GNP is still 30-40% less than the poorest countries of EU,and its
> -economy will probably face serious troubles in the next year.
Its GDP is around $9500 or so, while Greece has a per capita GDP of maybe $11000. South Korea really is an example of successful late development -- lots of high-tech, chip fabs, a serious industrial base, machine-tools, huge investments in R&D, very high levels of per capita investment, etc.
-- Dennis