The Iranian economy: past and present
Over the last forty years, the economic development of Iran may be seen as a tremendous mass of hopefulness that ultimately failed to materialize. After the national bourgeoisie was removed from power in 1953 and a foreign capitalist class took over, the path of underdevelopment was the one trodden down. There is now no going back. Under the rule of the shah, there was much growth but also underdevelopment. Income distribution was increasingly less equitable. There were growing discrepencies between rural and urban standards of living.