1 2. The economic growth record of the less developed countries is mixed. Approximately one-quarter of the world's inhabitants continue to eke out a bare subsistence in countries where the per capita income is growing slowly, if at all. The rates of population growth in these countries are among the highest in the world. Their economic prospects are bleak In co????trast, the recent economic growth records of Brazil, China, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Nigeria, and Hong Kong have been highly impressive. If the rate of population growth in these countries declines in the near future, they might well duplicate the "Japanese miracle."