Inequality and Poverty across the World
In this chapter we begin by examining the sources of poverty in the two waves of globalization, the first from 1700 to 1913 and the second from 1950 to the present. We then ask whether, during this second wave, absolute poverty has been falling? The answer turns out to depend on how we define the absolutely poor due to how incomes across the world have been rising. Under either of the definitions proposed from 2003 to 2008 the number of the absolutely poor has fallen. The data shows that, in percentage terms, the poorest of the poor have seen faster growth in incomes than the richest of the rich. Further, this pattern of growth has ensured that inequality has increased far more in poor than in rich countries.
2014 ◽
Vol 59
(3)
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pp. 613-627
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