Development Poverty • Huge, worldwide, inequality gap – The poorest 40% of the world’s population accounts for 5% of global income. – The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income. – The top 20% consumes 86% of the world’s goods and services – Poorest fifth consumes about 1% of world’s goods and services Global Inequality • The three richest people in the world have wealth that exceeds the combined economic output of the 47 least-developed nations • The world’s richest 200 people together have more money than the combined income of the lowest 40% (2.4 billion people) • About half of the world’s people live on less than $2 a day (the World Bank’s definition of poverty Global Inequality • Girls and women are disproportionately disadvantaged. Women represent 2/3 of the world’s illiterate people and 3/5 of its poor. • Stemming from cultural practices, food rations are often given to fathers and sons before daughters and mothers, resulting in greater malnourishment and disease. Why is there global inequality? • Geographic isolation, climate, and natural resources • Power Gini Coefficient • Used to measure income inequality • Number between 0 and 1 • 0 means perfect equality (all resources are evenly distributed) • 1 means perfect inequality (one person has control of all resources) Gini Coefficient Australia = .352 China = .447 France = .327 Germany = .283 India = .325 Japan = .249 Mexico = .546 UK = .360 US = .408 Theories of Global Inequality • How does the first world explain global inequality? • Modernization theory • Focuses on deficiencies in poor countries – absence of democratic institutions, capital, technology and initiative • Speculate how to repair deficiencies • Global wealth and poverty are linked to industrialization Modernization Theory • Rostow’s stages of Economic Development (1960) 1. Traditional society – no change 2. Preconditions for take-off – traditional society challenged 3. Take-off – belief in individualism, capitalism 4. Drive to technological maturity 5. High Mass Consumption Modernization Theory • Polarizes “tradition” and “modernity” • Looks at global economic integration especially by the International Monetary Find and the World Bank Theories of Global Inequality • How does the third world explain global inequality? • Dependency theory • Third World countries are exploited by first world countries • Economic growth in advanced countries created third world poverty in its wake Dependency theory • 16th Century capitalism developed as a global system • Workers produced raw material for export to rich countries • After independence, countries borrowed money from the First World in the 50s and 60s during the Cold War Dependency theory • Money was given to dictators that went to the military or the dictator’s family • Oil in OPEC countries went to Western Banks and was loaned to Third World countries • Interest rates on the loans went up/OPEC crisis made cost of oil go up Dependency theory • Countries went into debt to pay off loans and used this money to pay for food for their populations • Success of capitalism depends on labor earnings of third world staying low • Third World does not have economic independence; they give up more than they get back World Systems Theory • Capitalism is truly a global system that is held together with economic ties • Three types of nations – Core – Semi-Peripheral – Peripheral