Fel'dman, Grigorii Alexandrovich (1884-1958)

Fel’dman was one of the founders of the theory of economic growth, the economics of planning and development economics. His contributions were made in the USSR in the late 1920s. He developed a two-sector growth model and showed how different growth rates implied different economic structures. He derived two theorems. He is regarded as the father of the ‘heavy industry first’ strategy of economic development. A brilliant pioneer, Fel’dman's work was cut short by the Stalinists. Later analysis and international experience revealed a number of limitations of a narrowly Fel’dmanite approach to economic policy.