ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on credit unions which is a cooperative financial institution owned and controlled by its members. The credit unions are operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit and other financial services to its members. To measure world income inequality, we need to consider the definition of variable, accessibility, and availability of data, and the appropriate methods for cross-sectional and longitudinal measures. Alternatively, we can use the Gini Coefficient to measure income inequality. We need to define the variables being used before discussing on the relationship between country real income per capita and country income inequality graphically. This chapter discusses on most appropriate instruments for fighting poverty in the developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries are social enterprises, microfinance institutions, and foreign aid. It reviews the causes of poverty and the latest developments in national and international poverty alleviation strategies.
