This paper reassesses national income inequalities in this era of globalization. The main conclusion is that two opposite forces are at work: one 'centrifugal' at the two extremes of the distribution -- increasing the disparity of income shares appropriated by the top and by the bottom four deciles across countries; and the other 'centripetal'’ in the middle -- increasing the uniformity of the share of income going to deciles 5 to 9. Therefore, globalization is creating a situation where virtually all the intercountry diversity of income distribution is the result of differences in what the rich and the poor get in each country.
Inequality ranking -- Income inequality and income per capita -- Testing for regional effects in a cross-section framework -- The Mexican experience -- Conclusions -- Appendices.

23 p. : graphs, tables

Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-23).