ABSTRACT

This paper quantifies drain from the global South through unequal exchange since 1960. According to our primary method, which relies on exchange-rate differentials, we find that in the most recent year of data the global North (‘advanced economies’) appropriated from the South commodities worth $2.2 trillion in Northern prices — enough to end extreme poverty 15 times over. Over the whole period, drain from the South totalled $62 trillion (constant 2011 dollars), or $152 trillion when accounting for lost growth. Appropriation through unequal exchange represents up to 7% of Northern GDP and 9% of Southern GDP. We also test several alternative methods, for comparison: we quantify unequal exchange in terms of wage differentials instead of exchange-rate differentials, and report drain in global average prices as well as Northern prices. Regardless of the method, we find that the intensity of exploitation and the scale of unequal exchange increased significantly during the structural adjustment period of the 1980s and 1990s. This study affirms that drain from the South remains a significant feature of the world economy in the post-colonial era; rich countries continue to rely on imperial forms of appropriation to sustain their high levels of income and consumption.

摘要

本文量化了自 1960 年以来通过不平等交换从全球南方的流失。根据我们依赖汇率差异的主要方法，我们发现在最近一年的数据中，全球北方（“先进经济体”）从以北方价格计算的南方大宗商品价值 2.2 万亿美元——足以消除 15 倍以上的极端贫困。在整个期间，南方的流失总额为 62 万亿美元（2011 年不变的美元），如果考虑到增长损失，则为 152 万亿美元。通过不平等交换的拨款占北方 GDP 的 7% 和南方 GDP 的 9%。我们还测试了几种替代方法，以进行比较：我们根据工资差异而不是汇率差异来量化不平等交换，并报告全球平均价格和北方价格的流失。无论采用何种方法，我们发现在 80 年代和 1990 年代的结构调整期间，剥削的强度和不平等交换的规模显着增加。这项研究肯定了南方的流失仍然是后殖民时代世界经济的一个重要特征；富裕国家继续依靠帝国形式的拨款来维持其高水平的收入和消费。