Rich and Poor Countries | The Equality Trust

In brief:

More equal societies spend a higher proportion their income on overseas aid and perform better on the Global Peace Index.

In detail:

Given the enormous human suffering caused by the differences in living standards between rich and poor countries, it may seem beside the point to focus attention - as the Equality Trust does - on the inequalities within the rich countries.

But rather than seeing these as two quite separate problems, greater equality within the rich countries seems to lead them to adopt policies which are more helpful to poorer countries. Two pieces of evidence suggest that this is true. First, as the graph shows, the rich countries with the smallest income differences within them tend to spend a higher proportion of their Gross National Income on aid to developing countries. Second, more equal countries also perform better on the Global Peace Index which reflects militarism and violence.

When looking at the role of different countries in international trade agreements it looks as if the proposals supported by more equal countries are less dominated by attempts to serve their own economic interests at the expense of other countries. Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands have also contributed many times more in total (not just per head) than has the USA to the World Trade Organisation's Global Trust Fund set up to finance technical assistance to developing countries

Rich and Poor Countries | The Equality Trust