I did say they all used to be dirt poor just a few decades ago.FYI Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and even Malaysia are not considered 3rd world countries especially Singapore. Singapore is quite affluent.

I did say they all used to be dirt poor just a few decades ago.
The questions we all need to ask is how come some countries could transform themselves from 3rd, 4th world into 1st world in such a short time whereas others could not. Those countries range from one party rule to democratic to dictatorship/communist.. Perhaps we can learn something positive from them?
We have been losing the middle class and moving towards a two tiered society of haves and have nots, like the third world. That is a trend it behooves everyone to try and reverse. India is probably more like fourth world economy.