ABSTRACT
This chapter examines economic inequality across the globe, looks at both sides of a global poverty line, the percentage of people living on one dollar a day or less, the number of billionaires, and how these positions affect life chances. It explains the debt that is passed from country to country, the currency market, the economic ramifications of colonialism, or world political power as related to wealth. Operating with the concept of household income, social science has displayed a tendency to overlook not only the inequalities in wealth possession within the home but also the potential for abuse that is derived from this unequal distribution of wealth. Inequalities in wealth access also trickle down to children within family homes. Schools in the United States spend different amounts of money per student, and children from wealthier families do better in school than students from less wealthy families; they end up getting more prestigious and higher-paying jobs as well.
