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People that live in places such as the United States, Western Europe, Japan are wealthier than the people that live in other countries of the world. The interesting thing about this reality however, is that it took these countries a lot of time to become wealthy.
Since these countries have had technologies for a long time, the only way they have been able to expand their Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) and produce more with the same resources has been to invent new technologies. In past history this adjustments implies that the standards of life in the wealthy countries only grow around two percent annual because it is necessary to invent new technologies to increase those levels. At this rate, the standard of life will double approximately every thirty years.
One thing that is important to keep in mind is that the countries that are wealthier then others did not end up this way due to mere luck, but as a result of slow and permanent progress. This slow process non the less, also means that other countries that are not as prosperous can grow very quickly and reach the standards of life of the wealthier nations.
Developing countries such as China and India can grow much quicker because they can go from using older and less productive technology to top grade technology. As a consequence, they show growth rates of six to eight percent every year. At these rates, the standards of life will double in less then a decade and it will only take a couple generations for China and India to have the standards of life comparable to that in the United States, Japan, and Western Europe.