This work investigates the relationship between export instability and the economic growth of developing nations. Alasdair MacBean, an economist with extensive experience in international development, analyzes historical trade data from various developing countries during the mid-20th century. He challenges the prevailing orthodoxy of the time, which suggested that export instability was a primary cause of slow economic development, by examining the correlation between price fluctuations and national income growth.

Economists frequently cite this text as a foundational critique of the structuralist view on trade instability. The prose is dense and technical, serving primarily as a reference for researchers interested in the history of development economics.