Why Do Poor Countries Stay Poor? (Unequal Exchange and Imperialism)?

Poor countries often stay poor because they trade unequally with rich countries, like when you trade your favorite toy for a crumby snack that doesn’t taste as good.

Imagine you and your friend both have snacks. You have chocolate, which is super tasty, and your friend has candy corn, which isn’t as delicious. But your friend has more candy corn than you have chocolate. So every time you trade, you give them a piece of chocolate for a bunch of candy corn. Over time, you end up with less chocolate and more candy corn, even though the chocolate is better.

That’s like what happens in unequal exchange. Poor countries often send things like coffee or bananas to rich countries, but they get back things like phones or cars, which are more valuable, even if they’re not as fun to eat.

Sometimes, rich countries also control poor countries through imperialism, like when a big kid takes over your playground and tells you what games to play. This makes it harder for poor countries to grow and become rich on their own.