Not having the best day (although fixing bugs left and right), when people tell me the world is going to the dumps I internally sigh. Save for the Global Warming thing and the Escalation of Chinese and American tension the world is doing fine.<\/p>\n
Not only was the last decade the best of my life, it was best for the world:
\nA lot has changed in the past six years. The economies of the developing world have expanded 50 percent in real terms, despite the Great Recession. Moreover, growth has been particularly high in countries with large numbers of poor people. India and China, of course, but also Bangladesh, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Uganda, Mozambique and Uzbekistan \u2013 nine countries that were collectively home to nearly two-thirds of the world\u2019s poor in 2005 \u2013 are all experiencing phenomenal economic advances. ..<\/p>\n
We updated the World Bank\u2019s official $1.25-a-day figures to reveal how the global poverty landscape has changed. \u2026 We estimate that between 2005 and 2010, nearly half a billion people escaped extreme hardship, as the total number of the world\u2019s poor fell to 878 million people. Never before in history have so many people been lifted out of poverty in such a short period. \u2026. The emerging markets of Asia are recording the greatest successes; the two regional giants, China and India, are likely to account for three-quarters of the global reduction between 2005 and 2015. \u2026 With few exceptions, however, those who care about global development have been slow to catch on to this story. We hear far more about the 64 million people held back in poverty because of the Great Recession than we do about the hundreds of millions who escaped impoverishment over the past six years. (more)<\/p>\n
The greatest surprise, however, is the one taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 1980 and 2005, the region\u2019s poverty rate had consistently hovered above 50 percent. Given the continent\u2019s high population growth, its number of poor rose steadily. The current period is different. For the first time, Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s poverty rate has fallen below 50 percent.\u00a0The total number of poor people in the region is falling too. <\/p>\n
Doesn\u2019t sound much like stagnation to me.<\/p>\n