Part 1
Economic inequality of the world refers to the distribution of the economic metrics in the countries of the world. Economists have advanced three explanations for the economic disparity currently being experienced in the world. They include wealth, income and consumption inequality. Economic inequality of the world is increasingly becoming a social problem as it is destructive. Both income inequality, as well as, wealth concentration can largely inhibit long-term developments. Among the above explanations, the wealth inequality and income economic inequalities can be regarded as the rationalist theories. The inequality accruing from incomes is related to the significant problems that face the society today.
It is thus rationally acceptable that the transfer of incomes from the richer societies to the poorer may help in alleviating the poverty levels currently being experienced in the society. On the other hand, Williams (2008) mentions that the consumption inequality of income is considered as the structural based theory. It is for the close relationship that exists between it and income. From the above, the rational approach offers an avid explanation of the economic inequalities being experienced in the world. It is because of its consideration of several aspects such as government corruption, foreign debt and also foreign investments.
The dependency theory is of the view that resources flow from the poorer and underdeveloped countries to the wealthier nations. It does this from the periphery to the core of the countries respectively. This thereby enriches the developed countries as opposed to the underdeveloped ones that continue to wriggle in poverty. The theory advances that colonialism promote economic dependence, as well as, the exploitation of the former colonies making it the number one cause of global poverty. Therefore, the dependency theory divides the world countries according to their developmental levels. The countries have been divided into the periphery, as well as, the centre states. The centre countries as advanced by the theory consist of those that are already developed. They are also the colonising countries such as France, Belgium and Britain. The periphery states, on the other hand, are those developing countries that may otherwise be termed as the third world countries. Most of them are found in Africa and Asia. Examples as presented by Naggar (2015) include India, Congo and Senegal.
Race to the Bottom is a socio-economic ideal whereby various governments and institutions deregulate their business environments or even taxes for the attraction and retention of significant economic activities within their jurisdictions. The concept results in decreased wages, worsening of the working conditions and also environmental degradation. It particularly results from globalisation, as well as, free trade. It, therefore, occur when competition between different geographic areas increases over a specific trade and also production sector.
An example of the phenomenon from the developing countries is the report received in 2003 that the British supermarkets had vehemently decided to cut the prices of the bananas from various developing countries as depicted by Ghosh (2001). It in turn squeezed incomes from the countries associated leading to a race to bottom scenario since jobs were continually loosed and producers giving little attention to social, as well as, the environmental agreements earlier reached. The other example is the Philippine islands that had been previously endowed with lavish low-lands, vast mineral deposits and also rainforests. Currently, no part of the Philippine lacks an enormous ecological disaster thanks to the large commercial logging enterprises and small agriculturalists finding space in the rain forests.
The commercialisation of micro lending is a phenomenon that extends small loans towards various impoverished borrowers who lack collateral, steady income and a credit history which is verifiable. Its commercialisation has been designed to alleviate poverty as its core purpose. It also supports entrepreneurship, empower women and also uplift the whole community. The phenomenon has been undertaken by numerous developing countries and has had significant impacts in its bid to alleviate poverty.
Some critics of micro lending have projected that the phenomenon has catapulted to numerous problematic situations. The first is that it has led to strained gender relations as stated by Kristof (2015). It has also led to a significant number of borrowers being trapped in the debt crises. The only solution towards ensuring that the problems are solved lies in ensuring that the state takes effective legislative measures that guide the commercialisation of micro lending. The government has various control mechanisms through its institutions that can effectively check on the micro lending.
The carrying capacity of the Brazilian economy is the amount of economic activities that it can adequately contain. Such would lead to the improvement of the country’s performance at the international level. The principle of competitive exclusion has been significant to Brazil since it states that only a particular economic activity of a great magnitude can propel its economy into the realisation of its substantial goals. The principle can be deduced from the economic activities that have been known to accrue numerous benefits to the country. In light of the above, any country should carry out a sustainable development that is aligned to its objectives. The developments enable it not to source any form of external funding deemed to assist it. The current economy of Brazil has had major impacts on the above aspects. Their considerations have made the country register a positive trajectory in the international markets. This succeeds in proving the relationship that exists between them as mentioned by Boudreaux & Cowen (2015)
PART 2
Black money is a term that is often used to describe the secret payments that are paid by multinational companies among themselves for securing global business relationships. Therefore, the issue of ‘Black Money’ is what is being looked into in the documentary ‘Black Money’. It checks into how the menace of black money may have been sufficiently used by the British Government for the generation of billions of dollars. The issue was reported to Lowell Bergman of the Guardian Newspaper, by David Leigh. The discovery has been one of the greatest expose and complex case of ‘black money’ ever to be brought to light in history.
In the documentary, the British Government struck an international arms deal of eighty billion dollars with a significant aerospace manufacturer from Britain together with the Saudi royal family. When Bandar, who was enigmatic, resolved to purchase new jets from America, Israeli’s lobby turned it down. Bandar then appealed to Thatcher, who obliged to the deal that saw Royal Saudi Air Force, United Kingdom and the BAE systems enter into the deal.
Yunus, & Jolis (2009) states that the United States enormously takes the lead in the fight against international Corruption. It has significantly had some successes in the implementation of a Global Anti-Bribery Convention. It has achieved this through the provision of a realistic leadership that has increasingly assisted the reformers in corrupt states in combating this international scourge. Since fighting the vice has proved to be difficult, the US considered displacing those who had been maligned to power in various countries such in Afghanistan. Various administrations of the US have also paid a lip service towards the essence of the national security, as well as, the international stability of the global developments that can effectively increase the economic growth rates, fight corruption in underdeveloped countries and also build various institutions. The US administration has also introduced several bureaucratic activities that are geared towards combating international corruption as mentioned by Goldenstein (2015)
The OECD countries followed suit in the fight against international corruption so as to prohibit effectively the multinational companies in the industrialised countries from bribing the business officials found in the emerging markets such as Africa. It was, therefore, necessary for OECD to put pressure on the international businesses signatory to it to inculcate various anti-bribery cultures in their operations.
Most multinational corporations have loathed the measures that were adopted by the US and the OECD in the fight against international corruption. Most of them have decried that the enactments would put the United States companies at a competitive advantage against other global enterprises. It is because the US has also been known to have a hand in the control of various institutions of the world just as Etzioni (2015) affirms. The multinational corporations have also used it as a way of achieving their short term business goals. It is through the acquisition various multibillion-dollar contracts such as the case of what is advanced in the above documentary. They have intelligently managed to eschew the measures put in place by withdrawing their memberships from institutions deemed to promote the virtue. Some of the multinationals have even migrated their headquarters from the industrialised world that are subject to the control of OECD.
References
Boudreaux, K & Cowen, T. (2015). The Micromagic of Microcredit. Retrieved July from http://archive.wilsonquarterly.com/essays/micromagic-microcredit
Currenthistory.com. (2015). Current History. Retrieved from http://www.currenthistory.com/Article.php?ID=759
Goldenstein J.S. (2015). Think Again: War. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/08/15/think-again-war/
Ghosh, B. (2001). Dependency theory revisited. Aldershot: Ashgate.
KRISTOF, N. (2015). The Women’s Crusade. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=all
Etzioni, A. (2015). Corruption Reduction: A Foreign Policy Goal and Instrument. Retrieved from http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Dark_Side_4/Corruption-Reduction-A-Foreign-Policy-Goal-and-Instrument.shtml
Scott, C. (2005). Gender and development. Boulder: L. Rienner Publishers.
Naggar, E, O. (2015). Will Egypt’s Arab Spring Turn into an Arab Nightmare? Retrieved from http://www.thenation.com/article/will-egypts-arab-spring-turn-arab-nightmare/
Williams, V., & Ou, C. (2008). Small business and micro business lending in the United States, for data years 2005-2006. [Washington, D.C.]: SBA Office of Advocacy.
Yunus, M., & Jolis, A. (2009). Banker to the poor. New York: Public Affairs.
