What Does Development Mean Today? Rewriting the Socio-Economic Paradigm

In this paper I intend to discuss some of the central concerns that have emerged – at least for me – about development in recent times. I will try to cover three very broad questions: How has our vision of development changed since the heyday of ‘development economics? How do we measure progress today, and how should we be measuring it? And finally, where do we go from here?

This is the text of the Albert Hirschman Lecture delivered at the UNESCO, Paris on 30 September 2025.