North-South ECONOMIC DISPARITY

BACKGROUND  After WW2, it was apparent a wide gap in wealth existed among different countries of the world.  “First world” countries: developed market economies such as in Canada, the United States, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan  “Second world” countries: centrally planned economies such as in Russia and Eastern Europe

BACKGROUND  “Third world” countries: non-aligned countries. The term finally came to mean the poorer, developing countries such as Latin America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of the Middle East  In 1980 the Brandt Commission popularized the term “North-South” in a report to the United Nations

Describing the Gap  By the last quarter of the 20 th century, 80% of the world’s population lived in the Third World  They survived on 20% of the world’s income  Lives characterized by high infant mortality rates, malnutrition, inadequate supplies of clean water, and poor health  Levels of development vary from country to country:Gambia, Chad, and Sudan least developed, while Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Brazil have improved access to modern facilities

Describing the Gap  Levels of development vary within countries  Measures to use: 1) GNP- Gross National Product: the total value of all goods and services produced in a year by the residents of a country, both at home and abroad  2) GDP- Gross Domestic Product: the total value of goods and services produced in a year within a country

Describing the Gap  3) PQLI- Physical Quality of Life Index: a measure of economic conditions that includes such factors as rates of infant mortality, life expectancy and literacy  While each of these measures usually will be similar, many developing countries may have a GNP and a PQLI measure that do not coincide, for various reasons

DEFINITIONS  Colonialism: the policy of subjugating another country, so that the “mother country” is able to exploit the natural resources of the weaker country  Imperialism: policy of extending political/economic control over another country whose wealth (natural or human resources, money, manufactured goods) is used to build, maintain, or protect the imperial power  Development: a process whereby a state strives to improve economic and social conditions

DEFINITIONS  Industrialization: a process whereby a state’s economy becomes more dependent upon production generated by mechanized industry  Distribution of wealth: the extent to which citizens, nations or blocs of nations share in the wealth generated by industry, land ownership, inheritance, etc. For example, in some countries, a small portion of citizenry controls large portion of wealth