social expenditure, toqether with the removal of obstacles tc the introduction of new technol oqy and tc the ada pta ti ons made neces­ sary by competition from newly industrialized countries. It is therefore clear that the issue is as much socio-political as economic in nature, and that it will not be easily resolved qiven the conflictinq pressures from p~·Jerful interest qroups. In ad­ dition, there is still a need to find new sources of enerqy to replace oil, despite the present easinq of the oil market. This will require considerable investment on top of what has already 15 E/ECA/CM.9/5 been accomplished, and will pose difficult social problems be­ cause· of the real or imaqined environmental implications of new forms of ~nerqy, particularly nuclear enerqy. 23. In fact the projections made of economic qrowth in the developed market economies fer the 1980s all point to modest rates, 4.0 per cent at best. This has serious implications for developinq countries, because of the impa.ct of low rates of out­ put qrowth in industrialized countries on world trade and capital flows. All the projections of hiqher output in developinq countries imply an increasinq external qap, which will have to be covered by qrea ter amounts of external a ssista nee and non­ -concessional capital flows. The I nterna tiona! Development Strateqy for the 1980s postulates a hiqh rate of qrowth of 7 per cent, which implies a trade deficit amountinq to more than 2 per cent of the combined CDP of the developed economies. 24. Despite the importance of external resource flows for developinq countries, it must be pointed out that external fac­ tors may not be the most important in determininq their future development. One need only cite·the experience of same develop­ inq countries which have relatively few natural resources, and in 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the challenges and projections of economic growth, the need for new sources of energy, and the impact of these factors on developing countries. It also touches on the importance of external resource flows and the potential for conflict between different interest groups. These topics suggest that the text is more focused on macroeconomic and socio-political issues rather than specific sectors like agriculture or industry.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade