The magnitude of economic inequalities between nations raises a number of crucial questions. Some of these questions are empirical. What best explains the origins and persistence of such enormous disparities between countries? What measures, if any, are available to alleviate the material inequalities between nations? To what extent are the sources of these inequalities rooted in conditions beyond any single nation's control? This article explores the philosophical issues posed by international economic inequalities, but it begins by sketching out some of the empirical controversies that bear on these issues.