The New Geography of Global Income Inequality

The Surprising Finding Of This Book Is That, Contrary To Conventional Wisdom, Global Income Inequality Is Decreasing. Critics Of Globalization And Others Maintain That The Spread Of Consumer Capitalism Is Dramatically Polarizing The Worldwide Distribution Of Income. But As The Demographer Glenn Firebaugh Carefully Shows, Income Inequality For The World Peaked In The Late Twentieth Century And Is Now Heading Downward Because Of Declining Income Inequality Across Nations. Furthermore, As Income Inequality Declines Across Nations, It Is Rising Within Nations (though Not As Rapidly As It Is Declining Across Nations). Firebaugh Claims That This Historic Transition Represents A New Geography Of Global Income Inequality In The Twenty-first Century.--jacket. Massive Global Income Inequality : When Did It Arise And Why Does It Matter? -- The Reversal Of Historical Inequality Trends -- How Is National Income Measured, And Can We Trust The Data? -- Inequality : What It Is And How It Is Measured -- What We Already Know -- Income Inequality Across Nations In The Late Twentieth Century -- Weighted Versus Unweighted Inequality : Key To The Divergence Debate -- Continental Divides : Asia, Africa, And The Reversal Of The Trend -- Change In Income Inequality Within Nations -- Causes Of The Inequality Transition -- The Future Of Global Income Inequality -- Epilogue : Does Rising Income Bring Greater Happiness? Glenn Firebaugh. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [235]-249) And Index. Annotation The surprising finding of this book is that, contrary to conventional wisdom, global income inequality is decreasing. Critics of globalization and others maintain that the spread of consumer capitalism is dramatically polarizing the worldwide distribution of income. But as the demographer Glenn Firebaugh carefully shows, income inequality for the world peaked in the late twentieth century and is now heading downward because of declining income inequality across nations. Furthermore, as income inequality declines across nations, it is rising within nations (though not as rapidly as it is declining across nations). Firebaugh claims that this historic transition represents a new geography of global income inequality in the twenty-first century. This book documents the new geography, describes its causes, and explains why other analysts have missed one of the defining features of our era--a transition in inequality that is reducing the importance of where a person is born in determining his or her future well-being "The surprising finding of this book is that, contrary to conventional wisdom, global income inequality is decreasing. Critics of globalization and others maintain that the spread of consumer capitalism is dramatically polarizing the worldwide distribution of income. But as the demographer Glenn Firebaugh carefully shows, income inequality for the world peaked in the late twentieth century and is now heading downward because of declining income inequality across nations. Furthermore, as income inequality declines across nations, it is rising within nations (though not as rapidly as it is declining across nations). Firebaugh claims that this historic transition represents a new geography of global income inequality in the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.