Economic growth and economic development 19

.4 Introduction to Modern Economic Growth 1960 2000 Density of coutries 1980 log gdp per capita 10 11 Figure 1.2 Estimates of the distribution of countries according to log GDP per capita (PPP-adjusted) in 1960, 1980 and 2000 that some of the middle-income countries of the 1960s have joined the ranks of relatively high-income countries, while others have maintained their middle-income status or even experienced relative impoverishment While Figures 1.1 and 1.2 show that there is somewhat greater inequality among nations, an equally relevant concept might be inequality among individuals in the world economy Figures 1.1 and 1.2 are not directly informative on this, since they treat each country identically irrespective of the size of their population The alternative is presented in Figure 1.3, which shows the population-weighted distribution In this case, countries such as China, India, the United States and Russia receive greater weight because they have larger populations The picture that emerges in this case is quite different In fact, the 2000 distribution looks less spread-out, with thinner left tail than the 1960 distribution This reflects the fact that in 1960 China and India were among the poorest nations, whereas their relatively rapid growth in