Publication

Despite its importance, world income distribution has received rather little attention within the fields of development studies, international relations, or (until very recently) international economics. Neither the World Bank nor the IMF have devoted significant resources to studying it. Many analysts take it for granted that world income inequality is falling. According to Paul Omerod, for one, world inequality fell sharply in the second half of the 20th century. Many other analysts think it is sufficient to focus on poverty, and ignore income inequality as such. Both these views need to be challenged. New evidence suggests that global inequality is worsening, and rapidly. And there are good reasons to be alarmed by that trend, quite apart from what it implies about the extent of global poverty.