the future, we should take stock of the past without trepidation. Thouqh it is alwavs difficult to separate the economic from the non-economic, we should focus on the econmic issues facinq us today. When we came out of the decade of the 1980s, the Poor had be cone poorer and the rich richer; t..'1e developed world had amassed more riches while the oonditions of the underdeveloped had deteriorated. From the beqinninq to the end of the 1980s, per capita inoone in Africa, La tin America, the Caribbean and many Parts of Asia, includinq oil-exoortinq countries, sustained neqa tive qrowth rates. As is painted out in the 1989 World Bank report, invesbnent ratios in those oountries declined so sharply that they are no lonqer sufficient to meet the current consumption rates. The debt burden of the developinq countries now exceeds Sl,OOO billion, rePresentinq 50 per cent of those countries 9 aqqreqa te qross na tiona! incomes conbined. For most developinq countries debt servicinq now swallows up every effort towards development, killinq every hope nurtured bV those countries in the 1960s and the 1970s. Furthermore, we have left the 1980s with the prices of Pr imarv commodi tes 30 per cent lower than at the beqinninq of the decade. Throuqhout the 1980s the economies of most developinq countries were characterized bv a balance-of-payments deficit and neqa tive cash flow, not to mention natural disasters such as drouqht, desertification and Plaques. The net outoome of all these factors in the third world, especially in Africa, is greater sufferinq, hunqer, POverty, disease and deterioration of social services and infrastructure, in addition to political and social ins tabili tv. But the 1980s were quite different for the industrialized countries, whose economies experienced sustained qrowth rates. In most cases, those countries JVM/29 A/S-18/PV. 8 137 (Mr. Treik i, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the economic development of developing countries, specifically the negative impact of the 1980s on their economies, debt burden, and living conditions. The author highlights the decline of per capita income, investment ratios, and the rise of debt service burden, which has led to poverty, hunger, and deterioration of social services and infrastructure. The text also contrasts the experiences of developing countries with those of industrialized countries, which experienced sustained growth rates.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade