Download Causes of the inequality gap

Causes of the inequality
gap
•
Colonialism
•
Neo-colonialism
•
Debt
•
Governance
Colonialism
 Relationship
in which the ‘mother
country’ was dominant and the colony
was dependent.
 The colonies supplied raw materials
and the mother country did processing
and sold it back to the colony.
Neo-colonialism




Neo means new; ‘new-colonialism’
When colonialism ended, the structures remained.
The colonial relationship continued so that the
colonial power or companies within that nation would
continue to benefit through trade.
The ‘mother country’ still uses resources (natural and
people) from the colony, but doesn’t contribute to
social development of country (education, health
care)
Debt

Many colonies borrowed large sums of money from
rich nations to speed up development in their
countries. Because of this, these poor nations
owed huge debts to richer nations

Tied Aid – rich nations loaned money to colonies,
but the money could only be used to for buying
certain things ( military support or specific goods)
Governance
 After
colonies became independent,
government systems were often
military in nature.
 Government was often made up of rich
elite citizens who had become
powerful during colonialism.
Per Capita
 When
geographers measure data such
as wealth, income, poverty, death,
employment, etc., it is helpful to
compare the data on a national level,
as well as on a per capita basis. Per
capita means for each person.
How do we measure a country’s wealth?
(Economic)

GNP – Gross National Product- the total value of
all goods and services produced by the residents
of a country in a year, both at home and abroad.

GDP – Gross Domestic Product – the total value of
all good and services produced by the residents of
a country in a year.
How do we measure a country’s wealth?
(Social)
 Infant
mortality rate (how many children
die in their first years of life per 1000
births)
 Life Expectancy ( average number of years
a child can expect to live)
 Literacy Rate
 health care and education