Global Inequalities

World Patterns of Rich and PoorWorld Patterns of Rich and Poor

• Questions: 15 minutes (look in textbook to find answers)

• 1. Why is it that some people have so much, while others have so little? Why is the gap between rich and poor nations so big?

• 2. Why do poor countries have weak economies? • 3. Why doesn’t everyone share equally in the

world’s opportunities and resources?

Water

Education Food

Shelter

Health Care

Aspect of Life

Comparing Canada’s economic system and the economic systems of countries less fortunate

• To measure a country’s economy you could use an economic measurement called GDP.

• GDP (Gross Domestic Product) – average of all the wealth in the country created in one year divided by all the people.

• The Gross domestic product is the total of all people’s salaries in a country in one year divided by the number of people who live in the country.

• This is an interesting figure to analyze but it can be misleading.

• Why can it be misleading?

• Averages can give a false measurement of the conditions in a country.

• Look at fig 8.3 on page 147

Why GDP is misleading:• Example:

• There are 10 people in a society, and 9 of those people make $200 a year, but the 10th person makes $2000 a year.

• (200 x 9) + 2000 = $3 800

• We divide the total salary by the number of people in the society like this:

• $3 800/10 = $380

• According to this calculation, the average income is $380 a year, but 9 out of 10 people earn about half of that. We need more information to help us determine if a certain population has a certain quality of life.

HDI

• HDI or Human Development Index is an economic measurement that was designed to measure the average quality of life of a certain population, not just their income

• The HDI takes into account factors such as the ability to purchase survival items, availability of education and health care.

• The highest score a country can get in the HDI is 1.0. Canada’s score is 1998 was 0.96. This of course indicates that conditions are very good.

What are the top 5 countries with highest HDI?

• 1. • 2. • 3. • 4. • 5.

Top 5 countries with highest HDI

• 1. Canada – 0.960• 2. France – 0.946 • 3. Norway – 0.943• 4. United States – 0.943• 5. Iceland – 0.942

What are the bottom 5 countries with lowest HDI?

• 1. • 2. • 3. • 4. • 5.

Bottom 5 countries with lowest HDI

• 1. Sierra Leone – 0.185 • 2. Niger – 0.207 • 3. Burkina Faso – 0.219 • 4. Mali – 0.236• 5. Burundi – 0.241

Explaining Poverty

- Many countries that are poor today were once colonies of European countries. These european countries were known as the “mother countries.”

- The mother countries use the colonies to make themselves rich by imposing rules that suited only themselves.

• The colonies were not allowed to develop industries. The only thing they were able to do was export their natural resources to their mother countries.

• When the colonies became independent they had to try and build their economy from almost nothing.

• The colonies had trouble developing manufacturing, as they did not have technical knowledge to compete with established countries.

• These countries today are unable to trade with the rest of the world. All they can offer is to export their natural resources.

• As a result people in these former colonies earn lower wages and contribute less taxes.

• With less tax money going to the government, little is spent on education, health care and other important areas.

Explaining Poverty

• Education: • Lack of education, especially for girls • Research has shown that education woman marry

later and have fewer children. • In developing countries, education is often only

for those who can afford to pay for it. • Many families cannot afford school uniforms and

the transportation of their children to school.

Explaining Poverty

• Child Labour: • In developing countries, children often have to work to help a

family meet its needs. • This gives little reason to limit the number of children in a

family. • The more children you have the more children can work to

support the family.

• Imagine being 12 years old and having to work 12 hrs a day, to only make 1 dollar?

Explaining Poverty

• Health care in developing countries is often a last priority. Infant mortality rates are high.

• When children get older they are expected to take care of their parents since there are few doctors or hospitals available.

• Simple medication is unavailable, so a simple disease can be fatal.

• AIDS and other viruses spread easily between people.

Explaining Poverty

• DEBTS: • Many countries that used to be colonies

of European countries tried hard to improve conditions for their people.

• Schools and hospitals were built, factories and roads were developed, In order to do this, they had to borrow large sums of money from wealthier countries.

Explaining Poverty

• DEBTS: • Many countries are unable to pay back their loads

since the improvements are not enough to increase their economic activity.

• As countries try to pay back their loans, they often have to cut social spending on things such as education, health care, literacy programs and other essential services.

• The country becomes poorer trying to pay back the debt that was supposed to help them.

United Nations Millennium Declaration

• UN declaration on PovertyUN declaration on Poverty• On 8 September 2000, following a three day Millennium Summit

of world leaders at the headquarters of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration.

• The Millennium Declaration has eight chapters and key objectives, adopted by 189 world leaders during the summit.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vddX4n30sXY Video

Goals of the UN Millennium Declation

1. Values and Principles• Freedom• Equality• Solidarity• Tolerance• Respect for nature• Shared responsibility2. Peace, Security and Disarmament3. Development and Poverty Eradication4. Protecting our Common Environment5. Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance6. Protecting the Vulnerable7. Meeting the Special Needs of Africa8. Strengthening the United Nations• These eight goals should all be achieved by the year 2015.

The State of the WorldThe State of the World• Today, across the world, 1.3 billion

people live on less than $1 a day.

• 3 billion live on under $2 a day.

• 1.3 billion have no access to clean water.

• 3 billion have no access to sanitation.

• 2 billion have no access to electricity.

Doing dishes in southern Mali

The World’s ChildrenThe World’s Children

• More than 1 billion (50%) live in poverty.

• Over 600 million (34%) live in dwellings with more than 5 people per room or that have a mud floor.

• Over 500 million (31%) have no kind of toilet facility.

The State of the WorldThe State of the World

• Nearly 376 million (20%) use unsafe water or have a 15 minute walk to water.

• 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (equal to the children population of France, Germany, Greece, and Italy).

The State of the WorldThe State of the World

• In the least developed countries 45% of children do not attend school

• Per-capita income in countries with a literacy rate of less than 55% averages about $600.

The State of the WorldThe State of the World

• The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined.

Rich WorldRich World

• Interactive where is bulging with wealth http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/activities/whereswealth.html

• Billionaires by continent http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/activities/wherebillionaires.html

Celebrity Celebrity BillionairesBillionaires

Guess who…

I am the world’s richest man, valued at

$56 billion

Now aged 51, I am involved with tackling AIDS in Africa and set up my own charity to

help them

So far, I have given away

nearly $30bn of my fortune

to good causes

I made my money as the

inventor of Microsoft Windows

My name is Bill Gates

My name is Joanne and I am a 42 year

old writer

I have sold over 325 million books - the last four have been the fastest selling books in

history

I have a fortune of £545 million

which makes me the thirteenth

richest woman in Britain

I have donated £22 million to Comic Relief

I am the author of the Harry Potter

books

My name is JK Rowling

I am the third richest man in the

world, worth $52 billion

I made my money through

investing in insurance companies

Recently I gave $30

billion of my fortune to

the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation - the largest

single donation

ever made in the USA

I only earn $100,000 a

year and still live in the

same house that I bought in 1958 for $31,500

My Name is Warren Buffet

I am 53 and the world's only black

billionaire for three years in a

row

I am also, according to

many assessments, the most influential woman in the

world

I am an influential book critic, an

Oscar nominated actress, and a

magazine publisher, as well

as an award winning chat show

host

In 2005 alone I donated $303

million to charity

My chat show is called The

Oprah Winfrey Show

My name is Oprah

Winfrey

I am a Russian oil billionaire worth

$18.2 billion

In Russia, I am well known as the governor of

Chukotka in the far northeast of the

country

I am best known in the UK as the

owner of Chelsea Football Club

My name is Roman

Abramovich

RICH WORLD,POOR WORLDRICH WORLD,POOR WORLD

• WORLD’S TEN POOREST COUNTRIES 2008• RankCountryGDP - per capita (2008)• 1.Malawi $ 6002.• 2.Somalia $ 6003.• 3.Comoros $ 6004.• 4. Solomon Islands $ 6005.• 5. Congo, Democratic Republic of the $ 7006.• 6. Burundi $ 7007• 7. East Timor $ 8008.• 8. Tanzania $ 8009.• 9. Afghanistan $ 80010.• 10.Yemen $ 900• Source: CIA World Factbook• But it is an inadequate measure

http://www.aneki.com/richest.html• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/business/global/15gdp.html?_r=2

Bono TED videoBono TED video

• http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bono_s_call_to_action_for_africa.html

Technology fights poverty Technology fights poverty videosvideos

• http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/iqbal_quadir_says_mobiles_fight_poverty.html Mobiles

• http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/nicholas_negroponte_on_one_laptop_per_child_two_years_on.html Laptops

• A last word from Hans• http://www.gapminder.org/videos/ted-

talks/hans-rosling-ted-talk-2007-seemingly-impossible-is-possible/

Case Study

• Read pages 160 to 163. • Answer questions 1, 3, 4 due

tomorrow.