Global inequality may be worse than the GDP statistics suggest
2007 GDP per capita (left) and the authors' welfare measure (right) for 140 countries, both relative to the United States. Countries in Europe, especially eastern Europe, come out ahead thanks to high rates of leisure, longer life expectancies, and lower inequality. Oil-rich countries are penalized for low rates of consumption and high levels of inequality, while lower life expectancies hold back welfare in the AIDS-ravaged countries of southern Africa.