Introduction
Analysis of economic data and statistical results show that the distribution of world GDP is uneven caused political and economic factors. The top ten countries, with the highest GDP per capita are Luxemburg, Qatar, Bermuda, Jersey, Norway, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the USA and Ireland (Economy Statistics GDP 2008). This list shows that only two countries form the EU have high GDP. Although the EC is relatively similar to the United States in wealth and level of economic development, it has a much wider range of regional diversity. For example, the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in the United States between the richest and poorest regions is 1.5 to 1 compared to a ratio of 2.1 to 1 in the EC. Persons dealing with regional policy in the EC generally assume that regional disparities are caused by geographical and economic variables. The data shows that geographical variables have received the most attention, but recently economic variables have been blamed for certain types of regional disparities. Obviously, the assumptions which policy makers make regarding causation directly affect the remedies that they propose (Pulselli et al 87).
Analysis
The lowest GDP per casita have Nicaragua (with GDP per capita: $2,500), Philippines, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Malawi, Mali. Most of the poorest countries located in geographically isolated regions and have poor natural resources and underdeveloped economy. Following Afghanistan (32), decades ago geographers pointed out that regions distant from the core of activity in a country fail to develop equally with areas closer to the core. The modern world has a core containing a high concentration of economic development, modern infrastructure, and advanced social indications and a periphery lacking these attributes. The poorest countries are deprived a chance to participate in global economy and compete with developed countries and their companies. In recent years, regional specialists have recognized that some regions are chronically poor because of their location and because of economic factors. Such regions had depended on one major economic activity, such as steel making or textile production. Such regions are not geographically defined and their economic and social characteristics differ from the ones in the periphery as well. Thus, the statistical results show that the distribution of GDP is uneven because the majority of countries have low GDP and only top 30 have relatively high GDP. Countries of these countries have an industrial tradition and skilled workers and are more urban. Regions have a high rate of long-term unemployment and a large number of persons socially excluded from labor markets. Leaders from poor member states feared that the integration would exacerbate the disparities between the core and the periphery. The removal of internal barriers to a single market would enable the factors of production to move freely across national borders. National firms and capital could move toward the core in order to benefit from the concentration of economic life there. Moreover, national governments would lose the right to subsidize firms, and domestic firms would be forced to compete with more productive firms from other member states. In part, the improvement in the regional fund was a compensation which these leaders demanded in exchange for support of the policy to create the internal market. The richest countries use and exploit resources form poorer ones depriving many of them a chance to increase income and GDP per capita.
Works Cited
Pulselli, F., Bastioni, S., Marchettini, N., Tiezzi, E. The Road to Sustainability: GDP and future generations (The Sustainable World). WIT Press, 2008.
Economy Statistics GDP. 2008. Web.