1. The document discusses various theories and approaches to measuring and analyzing economic development levels between more developed countries (MDCs) and less developed countries (LDCs). 2. It outlines factors used in the UN's Human Development Index such as life expectancy, education, and GDP per capita to categorize countries and shows that the development gap between MDCs and LDCs is widening. 3. Dependency theory argues that the political and economic dominance of MDCs limits the ability of LDCs to develop and that colonialism created dependent relationships that perpetuate poverty in African nations.