THERE IS A “MYSTERY” WE MUST EXPLAIN . How is it that as transnational corporate investments and trade with poor countries—and international aid and loans to these same countries—have all increased dramatically over the past half century, so has world poverty? The number of people living in poverty is growing at a faster rate than the world’s population. In other words, poverty is spreading among the many even as wealth accumulates among the few. As the global empire grows stronger, the world’s working populations grow larger but poorer. What do we make of this?