Global Economic Inequality

Scholars of development and international economics have developed the researches on the state of global economic inequality. Whereas intellectuals and stakeholders across the globe have been following the trends in economic inequality, the inequality continues to exist, as the gap between the rich and the poor has grown (Rudra 2008, p. 25). Despite the fact that there is a recognition of changes in the global trends of inequality, a consensus has not been established yet on the direction of the changes. There are conflicting arguments that surround this discourse; some suggest positive change, while others propose that there has been retrogression regarding the economic inequality. This essay digs into this discourse and argue that global economic inequality has actually declined in the present century comparing to the previous ones. Based on the latest global economic realities and evolutions this paper offers a positioned argument : inequality has decreased and may possibly continue falling/ with the economic reforms in the developing Southern countries.

Global economic inequality refers to a situation where income is disproportional across the world’s population (Amsden 2000, p. 43). Economic inequality remains a surging political and economic issue across the globe, there is an increase of evidence that in reality, the rate of inequality has been declining. Studies that have analysed the economic trends across the globe by considering the Gross Domestic Product Index of countries have pointed to a declining trend in income inequality (Amsden 2000, p. 189). International trade is as one of the factors that have contributed to the decline in economic inequality in the world.

On the contrary, the economists that focus on the negative impacts of economic integration advance and support the argument for increased global inequality (Milanovic 2007, p. 89). According to these scholars, economic integration is just one of the ways through which the...