Introduction
Recent research shows that there has been a widening gap in the equality of income and wealth globally. Both on an international and an individual national level, nations are becoming increasingly separated when it comes to personal wealth. The major reason for this can be attributed to globalization. Nations are increasingly becoming more competitive with each other. This is in an attempt to remain relevant in the expanding process of globalization. The social development of these countries has been consequently been put at enormous costs. Competitive policies enacted by countries have miserably failed to assist. Policies of trade and finance liberization have led to greater inequality and instability in countries. In addition, they have hindered some nations control over some of their own policies (Moellendorf, 21). This has consequently led to great economic aspects in country. This global economic inequality has had various consequences. It has particularly been claimed that, “Global economic inequality has personal relevance and importance to people in advanced, affluent economies”. Is this statement true?
This statement is very valid indeed. Global economic inequality means that there are some countries enjoying good economic conditions while others are in dire economic conditions (Dowd, 11). The people in the good economic conditions are positively affected by this global economic inequality. The people in these countries may not realize it, but the affluent conditions that they live in have somehow been a result of global economic inequality. There are very many countries in the world that are poverty laden. These countries have for many years been exploited by the rich nations and it is this exploitation that has significantly driven up the affluence of these countries and their citizens (Moellendorf, 27). If by some miracle, the global economic inequality were to be eliminated, the people in the rich nations would suffer massive consequences. How would this happen? Let us look at several examples of how global inequality propels the individuals in the affluent economies forward.
Throughout the years, poor countries have witnessed flooding of imported good s in to their markets. In many instances, these goods are substandard but due to poor economic conditions, the poor have no choice but to buy them since they are the only ones that they can afford (Dowd, 31). In simple terms, affluent economies dump their excessive goods to the poor and as a result, they are able to gain economic favors. The inhabitants of wealthy nations utilize poorer nations as repositories for their substandard and wanted goods and in the process advance their economy. If there was widespread global economic equality, the poor would not result to the substandard goods and the economy of the wealthy nations together with their inhabitants would be affected adversely (Moellendorf, 54). This goes on to show the relevance and importance of global inequality to individuals in affluent economies.
The other factor is that the fact the poor state of some nations facilitates the massive transfer or flow of resources to the affluent nations. These resources are further used to advance the economic conditions of the inhabitants of these affluent nations. The level of infrastructure, technology and skills is very low in poverty-laden nations. Although these countries boast of a stupendous number of natural resources, there are no means of exploiting or developing these resources into more useful products. Consequently, these nations have no choice but to sell these resources to affluent nations, which possess adequate manpower and skills to exploit them and come up with products that are more useful. The affluent nations use the resources to advance their own economies and those of the people while the poor nation’s inhabitants benefit very little from their God-given resources. Ironically, once the affluent have finished developing the resources, the final products may be sold to the inhabitants of the poor nations at exorbitant prices.
The other major factor through which global economic inequality is relevant and important to people in advanced, affluent economies is in terms of medical advances. People in the affluent economies enjoy high quality health than their counterparts from less affluent nations. Unknowingly to them, a portion of these medical advances can be attributed or seen to be a result of global economic inequality. The people in poor nations act as a pool of guinea pigs or subjects of medicine testing. Various types of medicines developed in the west are first tested on less affluent nations. They are two implications of this factor. One is that this unethical testing paves way for the advancement of medical technology after the results of the test have been established. The inhabitants of the affluent economies therefore enjoy very advanced health services that may not be disseminated to their counterparts in less affluent nations. The second implication is pharmaceutical and drug-producing countries acquire massive profits from their drug sales in less affluent countries. This consequently results in more profits for these countries. This translates to improved economic conditions for the inhabitants to affluent countries (Milanović, 46).
In conclusion, it is very clear that global economic disparities and inequality is of enormous relevance and importance to the inhabitants of affluent countries. Their affluent state has significantly drawn a lot form the existing economic inequality in the global context (Milanović, 52). Their current affluent conditions can be seen to have been derived from the exportation of less affluent nations.
Works Cited
Dowd, Douglas F. Inequality and the Global Economic Crisis. London: Pluto Press, 2009. Internet resource.
Moellendorf, Darrel. Global Inequality Matters. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire [England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
Milanović, Branko. Worlds Apart: Measuring International and Global Inequality. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2005. Print.
