The Contemporary Consequences of the Gap

Nobody disputes the existence of a gap between rich countries and poor, and it probably does not matter to this conception whether, measured in terms of G.N.P. per head, the differential is of the order of 20:1 or 10:1. For one thing, the gap is perceived as the qualitative difference between industrialised and ‘modernised’ nations on the one hand, and archaic and agricultural communities on the other. For another, income comparisons seem arbitary on many grounds. Quite apart from their reliability and meaningfulness, they depend heavily on the grouping.