ABSTRACT
In the postwar period, global inequality widened sharply; the rich countries got richer while the poor ones got poorer. Thus, according to the United Nations Human Development Report 1992, between 1960 and 1989, the countries with the richest 20 per cent of the world population saw their share of global GNP rise from 70.2 per cent to 82.7 per cent. During the same period, the share of countries with the poorest 20 per cent of the world population shrunk from 2.3 per cent to 1.4 per cent. As a result, ‘[the] consequences for income inequalities have been dramatic. In 1960, the top 20 per cent received 30 times more than the bottom 20 per cent, but by 1989 they were receiving 60 times more.’ (UNDP 1992:34). In the recent past, these trends have continued to worsen. Thus, during the period from 1985 to 1995, no less than 47 countries, mostly in Africa and the former Soviet Union, registered negative growth, while rich countries achieved positive growth (World Bank 1997: Table 1, pp. 215-16).
