lopment of economically viable areas in the hinterlands, Brazil hopes to reverse the flow of this human tide.
Income distribution is highly skewed in Brazil. In Brazil, the richest 10 percent of the population receive 50.6 percent of national income (The World Bank, 1989). That proportion compares to 40.6 percent in Mexico, and to 26.6 percent in the United States (The World Bank, 1989). The richest 20 percent of Brazilians control two-thirds of national income, compared to 57.7 percent in Mexico, and 42.8 percent in the United States (The World Bank, 1989). Brazil has a two-tiered economy--almost as if there are two countries within a single country--one developing country, and one developed country (Wood, 1987). The undeveloped Brazil is approximately twice the size in population as is the developed Brazil. These inequities must be corrected, if the country is to avoid chaos, or, as Brazilian president Sarney said, to avoid "setting the fire to the powder keg" (Wood, 1987, 25).
Within the framework of gross inequality in income d
...