Prevailing narratives in international development hold that poorer countries can and will "catch-up" with richer countries through the process of
The myth of catch-up development: trends in core–periphery inequality from 1960 to 2023
The conventional narrative in international development holds that poorer countries are “catching up” with richer countries through the process of capitalist growth. This paper assesses this claim ...
Paul A. Haslam, Jessica Schafer and Pierre Beaudet, eds. Introduction to International Development: Approaches, Actors and Issues, 2nd Edition (Don Mills, Oxford University Press, 2012). 580pp
Is Inequality Inevitable?
Wealth naturally trickles up in free-market economies, model suggests
The end of development economics
Some decades ago, development economists saw their approach as being distinctive compared to mainstream economics in general and better grounded in the reality of actual economies. This column argues that two trends over the last decades – the significant improvement in the average income of what were called developing countries and the homogenisation of economics methodology across the board – mean that the distinction between development economics and economics in general is increasingly untenable and indeed unnecessary.
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished
Imperialism and Unequal Development - Monthly Review Press
“The societies of the dominated periphery no longer can wait,” said the great Egyptian economist Samir Amin, over half a century ago in the lively and re...
Capitalism in Crisis Amid Slow Growth and Growing Inequality
Six years after the Lehman disaster, the industrialized world is suffering from Japan Syndrome. Growth is minimal, another crash may be brewing and the gulf between rich and poor continues to widen. Can the global economy reinvent itself?
Global Inequality — Harvard University Press
Winner of the Bruno Kreisky Prize, Karl Renner InstitutA Financial Times Best Economics Book of the Year An Economist Best Book of the Year A Livemint Best Book of the YearOne of the world’s leading economists of inequality, Branko Milanovic presents a bold new account of the dynamics that drive inequality on a global scale. Drawing on vast data sets and cutting-edge research, he explains the benign and malign forces that make inequality rise and fall within and among nations. He also reveals who has been helped the most by globalization, who has been held back, and what policies might tilt the balance toward economic justice.“The data [Milanovic] provides offer a clearer picture of great economic puzzles, and his bold theorizing chips away at tired economic orthodoxies.”—The Economist“Milanovic has written an outstanding book…Informative, wide-ranging, scholarly, imaginative and commendably brief. As you would expect from one of the world’s leading experts on this topic, Milanovic has added significantly to important recent works by Thomas Piketty, Anthony Atkinson and François Bourguignon…Ever-rising inequality looks a highly unlikely combination with any genuine democracy. It is to the credit of Milanovic’s book that it brings out these dangers so clearly, along with the important global successes of the past few decades.—Martin Wolf, Financial Times
Exocapitalism: economies with absolutely no limits
There is a touch of destiny with this one. We have real…
Roadmap - New Economies for Eradicating Poverty
Rights-based, post-growth policies that make poverty eradication a deliberate outcome of restructured economies — not a trickle-down side effect of destructive growth.
The Fallacy of Endless Economic Growth
What economists around the world get wrong about the future.
Post-growth
Post-growth is an umbrella term that refers to a broad family of economic, ecological, and political perspectives responding to the limits-to-growth dilemma —the recognition that infinite economic growth is biophysically unsustainable on a finite planet. Central to post-growth thinking is the shift of the focus out of GDP growth as the main goal of the economy. Instead, well-being becomes the main objective. Post-growth puts emphasis on decoupling societal well-being from economic growth, advocating for the possibility of prosperity beyond growth.
The Myth of Capitalism Exposed
We need a revolution to cast off monopolies and restore entrepreneurial freedom. First of two excerpts from “The Myth of Capitalism.”
Entrepreneuring for a Post-Growth Economy: From Sustainable to Post-Growth Entrepreneurship
Earth's critical planetary boundaries are being exceeded and current economic development models are failing to provide adequate societal benefits. Urgent
The Divide — Jason Hickel
The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions Penguin Random House UK, 2017
A fact-based worldview for all | Gapminder
We live in a globalized world, not only in terms of trade and migration. More people than ever care about global development. But most people have severe misconceptions about contemporary global development. We know, because we have tested people’s knowledge. One of the main reasons for this is that students don’t learn to understand the world based on statistics and facts. Instead, we have a dramatic worldview formed by outdated school books and sensationalist news-stories. People intuitively believe that most things are getting worse. The dramatic worldview leads to irrational decisions by individuals, nonprofits, governments and business. For the first time in human history reliable statistics exist. There’s data for almost every aspect of global development. The data shows a very different picture: a world where most things improve; a world that is not divided; and a world where the fast population growth will soon be over. The world has never been less bad. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.