Etymology

middle income trap

Today it means: The situation where a country that attains a certain income gets stuck at that level, being unable to compete with other more developed economies in the high-value-added market. Full definition →

First used 2006
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The story

Coined by Indian economist Indermit Gill and economist Homi Kharas in 2007 in their book An East Asian Renaissance: Ideas for Economic Growth.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 2006 The situation where a country that attains a certain income gets stuck at that level, being unable to compete with other more developed economies in the high-value-added market.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.