Dependency theory
Another criticism of Rostow's work is that it considers large countries with a large population (Japan), with natural resources available at just the right time in its history (Coal in Northern European countries), or with a large land mass (Argentina). He has little to say and indeed offers little hope for small countries, such as Rwanda, which do not have such advantages. Neo-liberal economic theory to Rostow, and many others, does offer hope to much of the world that economic maturity is coming and the age of high mass-consumption is nigh. This does leave a potential "grim meathook future" for the outliers, which do not have the resources, political will, or external backing to become competitive with already developed economies. (See Dependency theory)