THIS BOOK IS about the huge differences in incomes and standards of
living that separate the rich countries of the world, such as the United
States, Great Britain, and Germany, from the poor, such as those in
sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and South Asia.
As we write this preface, North Africa and the Middle East have
been shaken by the “Arab Spring” started by the so-called Jasmine
Revolution, which was initially ignited by public outrage over the
self-immolation of a street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, on December
17, 2010. By January 14, 2011, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali,
who had ruled Tunisia since 1987, had stepped down, but far from
abating, the revolutionary fervor against the rule of privileged elites
in Tunisia was getting stronger and had already spread to the rest of
the Middle East. Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt with a tight
grip for almost thirty years, was ousted on February 11, 2011. The
fates of the regimes in Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen are unknown
as we complete this preface.
