Firebaugh starts out by citing classical economists like Thomas Malthus who during the time of the Industrial Revolution thought that humans across the globe would suffer low levels of income and living in the future. To make a point, he goes on to note that the truth is actually quite the opposite. Firebaugh goes on to mention that the world's average income has risen dramatically in the past two centuries, from $651 in 1820 to $5,204 in 1990. This is where I began to question a few things myself. Of course the average income is up, because more money is being made. Capitalism has made making money the top priority in many different ways all over the globe.
The next point that Firebaugh makes addresses that issue. The problem is that the income of the world has risen, along with the disparity between those with that income and those with much less. Western industrialized countries dominate the market in so many ways, and the average income in those areas show it. The areas of the world that control the most valuable resources and the most important markets have a stranglehold on the income of the world, while many other underdeveloped areas (such as Africa and India) are a completely different story with many citizens living in poverty. Firebaugh goes on to state that the global income inequality is not necessarily any worse than it was 40 or 50 years ago, but it is shifting from "inequality across nations to inequality within nations". I see this as meaning that globalization has changed the world income so mnuch that wealth can be found almost anywhere in the world, in any country. The problem is that disparity now exists in those countries instead of just between countries or areas of the the world, further increasing the gap between low-income people and the upper-class elite. With ever-increasing technological advancement, making money has never been easier for those people who hold the means of production. Technology has put efficiency at an all-time high, decreasing manual labor and increasing profit because of it. The problem is that we're seeing this gap continually widen, the gap between those with money/power and those struggling to attain it. The effects of this type of system have put economies, not just in the U.S., but all over the world in question.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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I totally agree with Jon on this. I find it very unfortunate that there's so many people out there with so much money that they don't even know what to do with it yet, there's millions of people that don't even have food to eat.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how Firebaugh mentions that income inequality shifted from "inequality across nations to inequality within nations." So clearly there's people all over the world that are rich and poor. Why don't the rich help out the poor within their own nation at least?
The gap between low income and upper class continues to get bigger. These days with our economy the way it is, I feel like it's only going to get worse especially for the ones who are already low-income.
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ReplyDelete“A revolution in the human condition is sweeping the world. Most people today are better fed, clothed, and housed than their predecessors two centuries ago…”
ReplyDeleteDamn, it must have been some hard-knock times two centuries ago. Here in his opening paragraphs, Firebaugh states at least twice this pattern of people “enjoying” a “higher standard of living” than their ancestors. I wonder how many people applying for food stamps at DHS, getting fed at a soup kitchen, or going without electricity tonight would feel about such a statement…
Firebaugh further goes on to talk about rising incomes over the past two centuries, life expectancy increasing, and people living “better” than before. “Although it is difficult to place a dollar value on longer life, most would agree that length of life is part of human welfare” Firebaugh explains. He also states that the world income pie has expanded greatly over the past two centuries, but not everyone’s piece has expanded at the same rate, as richer regions grew more rapidly, increasing income inequality. He makes the strong point that the new pattern of global income inequality cause by the recent phenomenon of declining inequality across nations accompanied by rising inequality within nations. Firebaugh then tries to debunk a few myths of such income inequality, trying to prove that the worlds spread of industrialization and growing economic integration has reversed the pattern of uneven economic growth favoring richer nations, compared to the typical view that globalization has exacerbated global income inequality.