The history of modern economic thought has been pre-occupied with the question of economic transformation or development. This survey of important contributions to the economics of development includes many economists not normally considered as pioneers in this field. The contributors point to the role of imperialist considerations in the early development of economic thought and the development discourse, and the impact of pressures for social and political reform. The economists and thinkers discussed include William Petty, David Ricardo, Friedrich List, Alexander Hamilton, Karl Marx, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Alfred Marshall, Michal Kalecki, John Maynard Keynes, Nicholas Kaldor, Karl Polanyi, Raul Prebisch, Arthur Lewis, Alexander Gerschenkeron and Hans Singer.