Within rich countries, environmentalists' concerns raise intriguing philosophical questions.

ECONOMIST: Development and the environment

Today, transfers from rich countries to poor, and downwards redistribution within poor countries, are in the collective interests of the rich countries.

ECONOMIST: Letters

Within the rich world, where destitution is rare, countries where incomes are more evenly distributed have longer-lived citizens and lower rates of obesity, delinquency, depression and teenage pregnancy than richer countries where wealth is more concentrated.

ECONOMIST: Social inequality: Always with us? | The

The BRICs and the original group of seven rich countries (G7) form natural blocks within the G20.

ECONOMIST: The BRICs

By the 2000s the large majority of emerging economies were growing consistently faster than rich countries, so much so that global inequality at last started to fall even as the gaps within many countries increased.

ECONOMIST: History: As you were | The