Now for the good news (Poverty has fallen in all regions of the world)

The Economist ^ | 03/02/2012

[SeekAndFind]

THE past four years have seen an economic crisis coincide with a food-price spike. That must surely have boosted the number of the world’s poor (especially since food inflation hits the poor hardest)—right? Wrong. New estimates of the numbers of the world’s poor by the World Bank’s Development Research Group show that for the first time ever, poverty—defined as the number and share of people living below $1.25 a day (at 2005 prices)—fell in every region of the world in 2005-08. Half the long-term decline is attributable to China, which has taken 660m people out of poverty since the early 1980s. But the main contribution to the recent turnaround is Africa.

Its poverty headcount rose at every three-year interval between 1981 and 2005, the only continent where this happened. But in 2008, it fell by 12m, or five percentage points to 47%—the first time less than half of Africans have been below the poverty line.

The bank also has partial estimates for 2010. These show global poverty that year was half its 1990 level, implying the long-term rate of poverty reduction—slightly over one percentage point a year—continued unabated in 2008-10, despite the dual crisis.

[Mmogamer]

AS someone once told me in order for others to rise, you must fall. Our standards of living are eroding and collapsing.

[ronnie raygun]

Poverty has fallen because the middleclass is now working it’s way down to the poverty level. It’s all in the way you perform your magic.

[JRandomFreeper]

in order for others to rise, you must fall.

That is absolute socialist crap that assumes the pie is of fixed size, and government is in control of cutting it up.

If there is not enough pie, make it bigger.

I refuse to allow that zero-sum crap pass by unrefuted.

/johnny

[SunkenCiv]

When the overall living standards fall, the poor look richer.

Bravo for the Obama recession!

Thanks SeekAndFind.

[Jim from C-Town]

‘New estimates of the numbers of the world’s poor by the World Bank’s Development Research Group show that for the first time ever, poverty—defined as the number and share of people living below $1.25 a day (at 2005 prices)—fell in every region of the world in 2005-08.’

2005-2008. Very convenient editing! Since 2008 poverty has risen exponentially Worldwide. In the U.S. it has increased by 25%!

NICE TRY LEFTISTS!

[Born to Conserve]

Sounds like they’re using CPI instead of a realistic inflation measure. With the trillions of dollars of money supply expansion in the last couple of years, the value of the dollar has gone down. There is more poverty now, even with all the massive redistribution of wealth.

If they used gold to measure changes in poverty, instead of US dollars adjusted for CPI, they might see the actual toll.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Malarkey.

“Free trade” is obliterating living standards in the USA.

[fella]

As Mark Twain wrote in hid autobiography: “Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.””.

[Born to Conserve]

““Free trade” is obliterating living standards in the USA.”

I think it is not the free trade, it’s the oppressive taxation, mandates, and regulation on domestic production.