The Brandt Line, also known as the North-South divide, it is a divisionary line which simply separates the rich countries in the North from the poor countries in the South. It encircles the world at latitude of 30°N. It crosses North and Central America, North of Africa and India, and then it goes down towards the South, placing Australia and New Zealand above the line. The Brandt line does take into account different development factors such as health care facilities, gross domestic product, education levels etc.
How was the Brandt Line formed?
Over thirty years ago, a commissioned chaired by Willy Brandt, former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, published a report “North-South; A programme for survival” in 1980. The whole point of the report was to create a boundary line between the North and the South.
Not all countries have developed at the same rate and globally there is an unequal distribution of wealth. Most economically developed countries (MEDCs) cover only 20% of the world’s population but have 80% of the world’s wealth, and are located in the northern hemisphere and include countries like USA, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan etc. the southern hemisphere with African countries, for example.
There are a lot of arguments put forward regarding the location of the Brandt Line. The line portrayed the lack of industrial development in South America and Africa, firstly because of their demographics and secondly, due to their exploitation as colonies by Europe’s countries from the 16th to 19th centuries.
It is critical to understand that the status of some countries is static and that the pattern is likely to distort due to the fast development of some of the Southern countries, many of them newly indu...
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...ne countries at a fixed position, as was shown in the Brandt Line in 1981 by Will Brandt. The line should include China, Brazil, South Korea, Argentina, India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa above the line along with the rich north as their economies have developed at a faster rate over the period of time, who knows other economies around the world also change over the course of time and then again the Brandt Line could become invalid.
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Brazil, the world’s seventh largest economy by nominal GDP, the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (The World Bank. 2016.), one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, with an average annual GDP growth rate of over 5% (Blankfeld. 2010.). On paper, evaluating based on GDP, Brazil has acquired status that of developed country, surpassing United Kingdom, Sweden, most European
The distribution of wealth by country is an amazing thing to look at (see table 3). The United States comes clearly on top with 41.6% of the wealth across the world, with the next closest being China at 10%. This shows that there is plenty of wealth to go around in the United States; we just don’t equally distribute it. The Gini Coefficient is the best way the world economy can represent the income distribution of a nation’s citizens. The United States ranks well below any other first world country (See table 2) This is an embarrassment to our country. We are a wealthy and successful country, yet we have a bigger gap between the wealthy and poor than any other country that compares to
Unlike the North – a term in vogue today, among others, for highlighting the difference between the rich, industrialised nations of mostly Western Europe, North America, Australasia, and the rudimentary economies of Latin America, Asia and Africa – underdevelopment, characterised by low income levels, poverty, low living standards and other socio-economic ills seem to be a defining feature of countries in these regions, collectively described as the Global South. Thomas (2003), Hershberg and Moreno-Brid(2003), and, Solimano(2005) suggest, for instance, that the socio - economic structure of most Latin American countries remains defined by vast inequalities in income and wealth distribution, poverty, volatile growth, high mortality rate and a high level of economic vulnerability. In Asia, a number of countries including the large economies of India and China have made improvements in the 21st century in terms of reducing poverty. Yet, 22% of the developing countries in Asia live on a dollar a day . The situation is bleaker in the South and Southeast Asia region where 38% leave on less than a dollar a day and over 48% of the population living below the regions individual country poverty line . Likewise, absolute poverty is on the rise in Africa - generally recognised as the world’s richest continent in terms of natural resources - despite a recorded decline in global poverty rates (Bhattacharyya: 2005).
1. Dateline-world region: The choices available were: North America (United States and Canada), Central America and the Caribbean, Latin America, Western Europe (including Turkey and Greece), Eastern Europe, Russia and former Soviet republics, China, the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa (including South Africa), developing Asia (mostly South and some Southeast Asia), developed Asia (mostly East and Southeast Asia), Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific Islands), global, the United Nations and other similar global organizations, and other/none.
Between 1961 and today, the Berlin Wall saw many changes, and so did the people that it entrapped. Prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall, borders between East and West Germany were closed in 1952 because of tension between Communists and Democratic superpowers and the only open crossing left in Berlin. West Germany was blockaded by the Soviets and only kept alive because of air drops made by the Western Allies (Time). The Soviets had to do something about the mass amount of people leaving Soviet East Berlin for West Berlin, and the non-communist world. The most visible aspect of the Cold War was the Berlin Wall. Before the wall was constructed, East and West Germans could travel freely between the two states.
Landes, D., 1999. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 38-59
Turner, Henry Ashby. Germany from Partition to Reunification. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press, 1992. Print.
Paul Collier’s book is about the future of the world. Most of the world is on the positive trajectory set by growth and prosperity. The 21st Century is the age of the middle class. For most of the world, things are looking up. However, Collier is concerned with a group of countries that are not part of this trajectory. Collier is concerned with approximately 58 countries that constitute about one billion people, or 20 percent of the earth’s population (Collier 7). This “bottom billion” group belongs to countries that are not progressing with the rest of the world’s pace; in fact, they seem to be diverging and falling apart when everyone else around them are growing. The purpose of the book is to show these countries are, in fact, diverging. He shows them caught in four different “traps.” After proving this, Collier has the challenge of making the case for reform and what can be done to fix these countries and put them on the course towards growth and prosperity. Finally, Collier has to show why the western world should care about supporting these countries and reversing their decline and how their current poor trajectory represents a drain on the global economy and security environment. The Bottom Billion is written for a broad audience; essentially all citizens of democratic countries. Collier encourages action by all levels but recommendations are made for policymakers in G8 countries that are responsible and interested in achieving improvement for impoverished countries.
Many factors can lead to the underdevelopment of a country. The most common sign of underdevelopment is that of a “Dual Economy”, this takes place when a “small modern elite and middle class make up about 20-30% of a country’...
In conclusion, Collier thoroughly explains his reasons behind why the bottom billion countries are poor. His arguments covered a variety of the course concepts like internationalism, failed state, Globalization, and economic forces. However, after critical evaluation, it is clear that Collier ignored and underestimated several of these concepts.
Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Apartheid (social Policy)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Marks, Shula, and Stanley Trapido. "South Africa Since 1976: A Historical Perspective." South Africa: No Turning Back (1988): 1-45. Print.
In order for any country to survive in comparison to another developed country they must be able to grow and sustain a healthy and flourishing economy. This paper is designed to give a detailed insight of economic growth and the sectors that influence economic growth. Economic growth in a country is essential to the reduction of poverty, without such reduction; poverty would continue to increase therefore economic growth is inevitable. Through economic growth, it is also an aid in the reduction of the unemployment rate and it also helps to reduce the budget deficit of the government. Economic growth can also encourage better living standards for all it is citizens because with economic growth there are improvements in the public sectors, educational and healthcare facilities. Through economic growth social spending can also be increased without an increase of taxes.
Poverty is often defined in absolute terms of low-income (World Bank, 2015). According to Dollar, David and Art Kraay (2014, p.372), the percentage of the poor in the world declined between 2013 and 2014 from approximately 26% to 20% using Word Bank figures, and the absolute number from an estimated 1.3 to 1.1 billion. Especially in India, the number of poor reduced more than 600 million. Not only India and China, the number of poor of the “globalizing” group include Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Mexico, The Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and more recently in Uganda and Mozambique were also felt of effectively: less than 800 million from 2013 to 2014. The data of World Bank demonstrated clearly the aspect: one of benefit of globalization is poverty