re: #581 Occasional Reader

Somewhat ironically, it was the lefties who came up with the term “third world” back in the fifties or sixties. Now, of course, considered terribly impolite, if not “racist”. I agree that “developing” is a silly whitewash. A good acronym I’ve seen used is simply LDCs, for “less deveoped countries”.

Was coined by French economist and demographer Alfred Sauvy, in an article published in the French magazine L’Observateur, August 14, 1952. It was used to describe those countries not aligned with the U.S (First World) or the Soviet Union (Second World) that were un-developed or under-developed.