1. Many antipoverty activists in the developing world believe that what keeps incomes and living standards from rising as fast as they have in the developed world is an international conspiracy of bankers, corporations, governments, and other institutions allegedly bent on oppressing the masses in order to enrich themselves. Comment on this view.

2. For decades, efforts to end world poverty have focused on redistributing wealth, rather than creating it. How successful has this approach been in fostering long-term economic progress?

3. Comment on the following statement discussing Mexico's recent privatization: ‘‘Mexican state companies are owned in the name of the people but are run and now privatized to benefit Mexico's ruling class.''