Introduction - The book talks about the audacious quest of economists which is to discover the means by which the poor countries in the tropics could become rich like the countries in Europe and North America. Previous measures such as foreign aid and fostering education have failed to create an impact and hence there is a need to find actual measures which work in favour of the quest. The writer, Mr. William Easterly, begins the chapter by talking about his visit to the village of Gulvera in Lahore, Pakistan, while on a World Bank trip. He describes the poor infrastructure, facilities and all the other factors which have been responsible for the major chunk of world population still living in poverty through the example of Gulvera.
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An argument was made that a third factor, culture, which remained unchanged over time and also further stated that a rise in income was causing a fall in the mortality rate and not the other way round. They observed that some income increases that were unrelated to mortality, like and income increase due to higher exports still did result in a fall in infant mortality. So that fact that an unrelated increase in income still reduces the mortality rate suggests that income has a major role to play on mortality …show more content…
These debts mainly occur due high interest rates, money spent on illness or food or accommodation. Ethnic minorities among the poor are also a target for oppression and not to mention poor children who are the most vulnerable to these circumstances. This could lead them into crime, prostitution and child labour and taking part in a war. This leads to uncivilized culture and also does not promote a rise in their economy and so the problem of poverty gets far from being solved. Women have also been a part of this oppression with an example of Cameroon where women require permission of the father or brother to go out of the house or that of Jamaica where surveys found women were actually beaten up after household arguments.
Growth and Poverty- The relationship between the two was found through the data covering spells of economic growth from 1981 to 1999. The result was quite clear: fast growth went with fast poverty reduction, and overall economic contraction went with increased poverty. The increases in poverty were extremely acute in economies with severe decline- most of them in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These were economies just moving away from the old communist system and awaiting for the new one to be implemented. Several poverty-increasing declines also occurred in Africa. This was due to poor climatic conditions and frequent recessions
An argument was made that a third factor, culture, which remained unchanged over time and also further stated that a rise in income was causing a fall in the mortality rate and not the other way round. They observed that some income increases that were unrelated to mortality, like and income increase due to higher exports still did result in a fall in infant mortality. So that fact that an unrelated increase in income still reduces the mortality rate suggests that income has a major role to play on mortality …show more content…
These debts mainly occur due high interest rates, money spent on illness or food or accommodation. Ethnic minorities among the poor are also a target for oppression and not to mention poor children who are the most vulnerable to these circumstances. This could lead them into crime, prostitution and child labour and taking part in a war. This leads to uncivilized culture and also does not promote a rise in their economy and so the problem of poverty gets far from being solved. Women have also been a part of this oppression with an example of Cameroon where women require permission of the father or brother to go out of the house or that of Jamaica where surveys found women were actually beaten up after household arguments.
Growth and Poverty- The relationship between the two was found through the data covering spells of economic growth from 1981 to 1999. The result was quite clear: fast growth went with fast poverty reduction, and overall economic contraction went with increased poverty. The increases in poverty were extremely acute in economies with severe decline- most of them in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These were economies just moving away from the old communist system and awaiting for the new one to be implemented. Several poverty-increasing declines also occurred in Africa. This was due to poor climatic conditions and frequent recessions