Transcript Document

Why are some countries rich and others poor?
An ensuing 21st-century paradox
Europe Supported by
Africa and America
William Blake (1796)
Jelte Harnmeijer
Schishuney / ‘fishing place with a pole’ / Waldron Island
10 July MMX
“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he
shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall
be taken away even that which he hath.”
- Matthew XXV:29, King James Edition
Outline
1.
What are Poverty and Inequality?
2.
What patterns exist in the distribution of
3.
Why are some countries rich and others poor?
4.
Neocolonial explanations for persistent 21st–century poverty
5.
The link with Sustainability
income?
1. What are Poverty and Inequality?
Mohotlong, Lesotho
Guandong, Chinese-occupied Tibet
Maputo, Mozambique
New York, USA
Kaokoveld, Namibia
U.S. of A.
Nepal
Money & Happiness
What do people think makes them happy?
Concern
Personal economic
Family
Health
Values and character
Job or work situation
International-world situation
Social
Political
Maintain status quo or no fears
Relative Importance
Rank
% mentioning
Mean
Range
Mean
Range
1.0
1-1
77
60-95
2.2
2-3
50
27-76
3.4
2-6
34
4-48
4.4
4-6
22
9-42
4.4
3-6
20
8-42
6.7
5-8
6
1-14
7.3
4-9
4
0-15
7.7
5-9
2
0-11
7.9
5-9
3
0-15
After: Cantril (1965)
What do people think makes them happy?
Concern
% mentioning
Family and home life
23
General contentment
19
Money and prices
18
Living standards, consumption
17
Social values
16
Personal beliefs, religion
11
Social relationships
10
Housing
10
Health
10
Work
9
Freedom of all kinds
7
Leisure, holidays, travel
6
Natural environment
4
Education and culture
4
Comparison with past and other countries4
Possession of consumer goods
3
Pressures of life
3
Worries, mental health
2
Negative statements
2
Altrusitic statements
2
Equality and justice
2
Other
3
Don't know
10
What is well-being?
After: British Social Science Research Council (1975)
In: Douthwaite (1999)
Income & happiness
Income & happiness
Reported life satisfaction
increases with income to US$10,000 – 15,000,
then levels off at higher levels
The case for
greater
equality
Income inequality correlates with ...
social capital
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
infant mortality
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
mental illness
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
drug abuse
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
high-school drop out rates
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
incarceration rates
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
obesity
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
trust in fellow humans
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
homicide rates
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
teenage pregnancy rates
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
child well-being
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
national altruism
(4) Inequality
Income inequality correlates with ...
recycling
2. What patterns exist in the distribution of income?
What patterns exist in the distribution of income?
(4)
Inequality
What patterns exist in the distribution of income?
Compiled from 2003 World Bank country dataset
What patterns exist in the distribution of income?
Per-capita income for white and black Brazilians.
Source: IBGE Census 2000.
What patterns exist in the distribution of income?
Where are the people?
100
1000
10000
Income (US$, PPP)
100000
(AFR=Africa; EAP=East Asia; ECE=East- and Central Europe; LAC=Latin America;
OECD=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; SAS=South Asia)
Source: Dikhanov, Y. and Ward, M. (2003)
What patterns exist in the distribution of income?
Where is the dough?
100
Income (US$, PPP)
1000
10000
100000
(AFR=Africa; EAP=East Asia; ECE=East- and Central Europe; LAC=Latin America;
OECD=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; SAS=South Asia)
Source: Dikhanov, Y. and Ward, M. (2003)
3.
Why are some countries rich and others poor?
“Why are some countries rich and others poor?”
Continent
Africa
Asia
Country
Mozambique
Namibia
South Africa
Bangladesh
Cambodia
India
Myanmar
(Burma)
Nepal
Month(s), Number of
year(s) Interviews
May-03
10
Jul-04
14
Jul-04
5
Jun-02
3
Jul-02
3
Jun 2002;
11
Jul-02
Jun-02
7
Jan 2002-
Jun-02
Thailand
Jul-02
Tibet (China)
Feb-02
Turkey
Mar-06
Sep-02
Europe Belgium
Bulgaria
Mar-06
Denmark
Aug 2002;
Aug-06
France
Dec 2004;
Jul-05
Germany
Aug-06
Hungary
Mar-06
Netherlands, the Aug-04
Norway
Jul-06
Romania
Mar-06
Sweden
Jul-06
Continent
Country
North Canada
America
Greenland
Mexico
United States
Oceania Australia
19
2
6
8
1
1
3
New Zealand
Month(s), Number of
year(s) Interviews
Sep 2002Jun-06
Aug 2002;
Aug-06
Jun-04
Sep 2002Jun-06
Aug 2003;
Aug-Sep
2004;
Aug-05
Aug-05
3
8
4
108
28
4
2
6
2
3
5
1
1
Summary
of
interviews
conducted between February
2002 and June 2006.
Categories of responses
Categories of responses
Categories of responses
(i) Evolutionary explanations
“… because some people are clever and others are
stupid.”
- Anonymous white South African of Boer ancestry, Hazyview, South
Africa, July 2004.
“The idea that some populations are more energetic than
others […] perhaps deserves some consideration.”
- J.P. Cole (1979), The Development Gap, page 111.
Categories of responses
Categories of responses
(ii)
Cultural/societal explanations
“... the explanations offered for the contrasting records in
growth have most often focused on institutions and
highlighted the variation across societies in conditions
relevant to growth such as the security of property rights,
prevalence of corruption, structures of the financial sector,
investment in public infrastructure and social capital, and
the inclination to work hard or be entrepreneurial.”
- Sokoloff & Engerman (2000), page 218.
GDP/capita relative to US in selected New World economies, 1700-1997
Source: Sokoloff and Engermann (2000)
Categories of responses
(iii)
Environmental explanations
“These areas were settled because the climate was similar
to that of Europe.”
- Prof. Wolfram Latsch, personal communication, April 2004.
“I think that tropical diseases are largely to blame.”
- Prof. Roger Buick, North Pole, Australia, August 2004.
Koppen classification climatic zones
(iv) Historical explanations
“European countries have been around for a long time.
We are young. We just simply need time to catch up.”
- Nxobo Masika, Johannesburg, South Africa, March 2004.
Dates of recent independence of developing countries.
Date
19-Jul-49
8-Aug-49
24-Dec-51
9-Nov-53
1-Jan-56
2-Mar-56
20-Mar-56
6-Mar-57
31-Aug-57
2-Oct-58
1-Jan-60
4-Apr-60
27-Apr-60
26-Jun-60
26-Jun-60
30-Jun-60
1-Jul-60
1-Aug-60
3-Aug-60
5-Aug-60
7-Aug-60
11-Aug-60
13-Aug-60
15-Aug-60
17-Aug-60
22-Sep-60
1-Oct-60
28-Nov-60
27-Apr-61
19-Jun-61
1-Jan-62
1-Jul-62
1-Jul-62
5-Jul-62
6-Aug-62
31-Aug-62
9-Oct-62
12-Dec-63
26-Apr-64
6-Jul-64
21-Sep-64
24-Oct-64
18-Feb-65
26-Jul-65
9-Aug-65
Country
Laos
Bhutan
Libya
Cambodia
Sudan
Morocco
Tunisia
Ghana
Malaysia
Guinea
Cameroon
Senegal
Togo
Madagascar
Somalia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Somalia
Benin
Niger
Burkina Faso
Côte d'Ivoire
Chad
Central African Republic
Republic of the Congo
Gabon
Mali
Nigeria
Mauritania
Sierra Leone
Kuwait
Samoa
Burundi
Rwanda
Algeria
Jamaica
Trinidad and Tobago
Uganda
Kenya
Tanzania
Malawi
Malta
Zambia
The Gambia
Maldives
Singapore
Notes
from France
from India
from Italy
from France
from Egypt and UK
from France and Spain
from France
from UK
from UK
from France
from French-administered UN trusteeship
from France
from French-administered UN trusteeship
from France
from the UK
from Belgium
from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship
from France
from France
from France
from France
from France
from France
from France
from France
from France
from UK
from France
from UK
from UK
from New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship
from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration
from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship
from France
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK-administered UN trusteeship
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from Malaysian Federation
Date
26-May-66
30-Sep-66
4-Oct-66
30-Nov-66
30-Nov-67
31-Jan-68
12-Mar-68
6-Sep-68
12-Oct-68
4-Jun-70
10-Oct-70
15-Aug-71
3-Sep-71
2-Dec-71
16-Dec-71
10-Jul-73
24-Sep-73
7-Feb-74
19-Oct-74
25-Jun-75
5-Jul-75
6-Jul-75
12-Jul-75
16-Sep-75
11-Nov-75
25-Nov-75
27-Feb-76
29-Jun-76
27-Jun-77
7-Jul-78
1-Oct-78
3-Nov-78
22-Feb-79
12-Jul-79
27-Oct-79
18-Apr-80
30-Jul-80
21-Sep-81
1-Nov-81
19-Sep-83
1-Jan-84
21-Oct-86
3-Nov-86
21-Mar-90
24-May-93
1-Oct-94
Country
Guyana
Botswana
Lesotho
Barbados
South Yemen
Nauru
Mauritius
Swaziland
Equatorial Guinea
Tonga
Fiji
Bahrain
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Bangladesh
The Bahamas
Guinea-Bissau
Grenada
Niue
Mozambique
Cape Verde
Comoros
São Tomé and Principe
Papua New Guinea
Angola
Suriname
Western Sahara
Seychelles
Djibouti
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu
Dominica
Saint Lucia
Kiribati
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Zimbabwe
Vanuatu
Belize
Antigua and Barbuda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Brunei
Marshall Islands
Federated States of Micronesia
Namibia
Eritrea
Palau
Notes
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from Australia-/NZ-/UK-administered UN trusteeship
from UK
from UK
from Spain
from UK protectorate
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from Pakistan
from UK
declared independence from Portugal
from UK
in free association with New Zealand
from Portugal
from Portugal
from France
from Portugal
from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship
from Portugal
from Netherlands
from Spain
from UK
from France
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from France and UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from UK
from the US-administered UN trusteeship
from the US-administered UN trusteeship
from South Africa
from Ethiopia
from the US-administered UN trusteeship
Early dates of independence of South American countries
Date
1 January 1804
25 May 1810
20 July 1810
16 September 1810
18 September 1810
14 May 1811
5 July 1811
28 July 1821
15 September 1821
15 September 1821
15 September 1821
15 September 1821
15 September 1821
28 November 1821
24 May 1822
7 September 1822
6 August 1825
25 August 1825
Country
Haiti
Argentina
Colombia
Mexico
Chile
Paraguay
Venezuela
Peru
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Ecuador
Brazil
Bolivia
Uruguay
Notes
from France
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Spain
from Portugal
from Spain
from Brazil
(v) Inept-leadership explanations
“African leaders themselves have also failed the resource-rich
continent. They continue to unscrupulously harp on historical
injustices to cover up for their political and economic mess that
are [sic] a sad manifestation of their suppression of democratic
governance. Corrupt and inefficient management of economies,
greed, power hunger, disrespect for human rights, cronyism,
among other vices, have contributed to the underdevelopment of
Africa today.”
- Charles Mangongera, ‘Should We Continue to Blame Colonialism?’,
Financial Gazette (Harare, Zimbabwe), September 19, 2002.
“A district our size should have a much better soccer field, but the
money was pocketed. There is corruption at all levels. It’s a topdown problem.”
- Unemployed 27-yr-old Sidhinhyo, Morongulos, Mozambique, April 2004.
Evolution of Corruption by Regions of the World, 1984-1999
Source: Lederman, D, Loayza, N. and Soares, R.R. (2001)
“Who has the most to gain from corruption?
(or the most to lose from ending it?)”
(vi) Psychological explanations
“There exists among us a strong feeling of inferiority […
which] comes from our awareness of past
[white/European] oppression.”
- Anonymous fisherman, northern Mozambique, April 2004.
(vii)
Neocolonial explanations
“We were told, and accepted, that our poverty was caused
by our poverty in the now famous theory of the ‘vicious
circle of poverty’ and we went round in circles seeking
ways and means of breaking that circle. Had we asked
the [right] questions we would not have exposed our
economies to the ruthless plunder brought about by
‘foreign investments’ which the exponents of the vicious
circle theory urged us to do. For, it is clear, foreign
investment is the cause, and not a solution, to our
economic backwardness.”
- Former Tanzanian minister A.M. Babu, In: Walter Rodney (1965),
How Europe underdeveloped Africa, page 312.
Economies are like fires ...
5. The link with Sustainability
Neocolonial explanations for persistent 21st-century poverty
Earth’s ecologically productive surface
≈ 21.42·109 hectares
Per-capita surface required to support
American lifestyle
≈ 9.57 hectares
Global population on July 10th, 2010
≈ 6 795 329 623
Acreage required to support worldwide
American standards of living
≈ 3 Earths
Fact:
Present American standards of living for the
entire global populace are a physical
impossibility.
(a)
(b)
Cartograms illustrating (a) country-level wood and paper imports (by volume) for
the year 2000; (b) country-level net forest loss between 1990 and 2000.
Flows of raw material and fuel
the case for
greater
global equality:
almost everyone stands to gain
http://www.realfuture.org
the tide is on Our side