Inequality in the World - The Gap between North and South

You are an assistant to the U.S. Treasury Secretary, who has a meeting scheduled with Level the Playing Field, an organization committed to addressing what it believes is a highly unjust distribution of wealth and resources in the world. The Secretary needs your help to prepare for his meeting. He wants information and evidence (from your course readings and sources on the Internet) to help him understand the nature of this supposed inequality. You must gather and summarize empirical evidence that provides a description of the nature of international inequality. Specifically, you must prepare a one-page (typed, single-spaced) memo to the Treasury Secretary in which you:

1. provide at least five economic and/or social factors showing inequality between the developing and developed world (e.g., per capita income); your course readings can help you identify some factors.
2. list the course readings and Internet resources that discuss international inequality.
3. Conclude with your assessment of the seriousness of the problem and presentation of actions to address it.

Here are a couple of Internet sites that might prove helpful:

www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/databytopic.html
www.undp.org/hdr2001/back.pdf