Reading Responses: Week 2

For this week, you have two assignments: Robbins Chapter 3 (focusing on pp. 93-107) and Collier Chapter 1.  This is a spot in which you can post a response, if you'd like to, or comment on the reading.  Make sure you identify yourself in a way that I can give you credit.

Resources: The World Bank listing of GNI per capita

This links to the PDF of the document that gives per capita income (adjusted for costs of living) of countries around the world: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNIPC.pdf

A couple of observations:

First, the methods of adjustment.  The Atlas method adjusts for currency fluctuations and inflation by using multi-year data.  The PPP (purchasing power parity) method adjusts for the fact that stuff costs different amounts in different countries by evaluating the "purchasing power" that the  money has.  This effectively makes the per capita income in poor countries higher. Which is a good way to look at poverty, but not necessarily a good way to look at migration (because higher salaries can be spent in other places).

Second, I've asked you to think about the regional aspects of this income distribution. Where are the rich countries? Where are the poor ones? And where do we find rich and poor countries close to one another?


Enjoy!

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for Julia Smith's Revolution and Development (Anth 366) class.  This is an experiment, so let me know what you think!  I'll be posting links, copies of assignments, and places where you can put your reading responses (if you'd like).  So keep an eye here!