The Human Development Index Is Vast Improvement on Measures of Development in Terms of Income

I have chosen to research about poverty. From the research I have gathered poverty still exists in today’s society. Poverty is inability to be able to get certain needs such us; food, water, clothing, choices and opportunities, not having enough food or not having food at all. Not getting the opportunity to go a clinic, it also means not being able to afford basic needs of the family. Poverty also brings bad health and bad education compared to people who have better life than, people who are in poverty. People who are living in poverty cannot afford the necessary clothing or school supplies, they might not have a way for their children to get to school. Gaining a basic education could bring 171 million people out of poverty (Poverty, 2002). Poverty can make

Poverty has been a consistent issue throughout the world caused by economic system and how it’s poorly organized. The unemployment rate has also been decreasing greatly within the country since so many people that continue to struggle with their normal lives resulting in a negative affect towards people’s lives, whether emotionally or physically, and changing the course of how people live in their environment of poverty. There are millions of people out there that are homeless and hungry, despite having lots of resources all over the world, it seems still not enough. People and government should strive to end poverty together for the common good of all.

Thirdly, I do not believe GDP is always a good indicator of the economic development of a nation. Economic development is more than a figure representing the total value of goods and services produced in a given year in comparison to total consumer, government and investment spending. Economic development is about increasing the standard of living and social wellbeing of a nation’s people in association with sustained economic growth but there does not appear to have been sufficient information collected to ascertain this was the case in all 8 nations. The USA could be considered one such example: a nation with a substantial GDP yet it has increasing deterioration in the level of general health and growing literacy issues across its population.

Between 1990 and 2005, the rate of poverty in the developing world dropped from 46% to 26%, with the majority of developing nations continuing in this trend today (United Nations Summit, 2010). However, statistics show that approximately 920 million individuals currently live on a daily sum of less than USD $1.25 per day (ibid.). It is evident, therefore, that income inequality continues to exist, prompting the demand to further build the economy and better serve those in poverty through a greater focus on sustainable development.

The concept of ‘sustainable development’ is one that has faced heated debates for decades now. A seemingly harmless concept, it raises a lot of questions as to what it really entails and how exactly it can be achieved. But with more than 1.3 billion people living in abject poverty (less than $1.25 a day), and with a reported 22,000 children dying every day as a result of poverty (UNICEF), the debate for Sustainable Development becomes interesting as it questions the extremity of economic growth policies, in the war against poverty. Many note economic growth and development as the only tool for poverty alleviation. Roemer and Gugerty, for example, report that GDP growth of 10% per year is associated with income growth of 10% for the poorest 40% of the population. However, others question the extent to which economic growth should be put above other socio-economic factors. Lele points out that the focus on economic growth has led to important ecological and social sustainability, taking the backseat. He argues that due to strong emphasis on economic growth, not enough attention is paid to social equity, and economic stability within the development discourse.

When there’s enough money in the world to provide education, clean water, and basic health and nutrition to all, one could question why “at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day” (Shah). Poverty, generally defined in two different methods, is “one of several socioeconomic indicators” (Bishaw), which suggests how efficiently a country achieves its “successful development,” such as giving people access to all basics needs of life, including food, water, clothing, and education (Shah). Using a relative definition, anyone who has less wealth and income relative to others in a certain population is considered poor (Dudley 55). In contrast to this relative measure, an absolute measurement sets a minimum standard of income and

Poverty is often thought off as the lack of wealth or even the absence of it by this school of thought as one looks at how Poverty can be alleviated. The question is how prosperity can be increased, at the various levels of society from the singular individual to the collective of individuals that form governments. The war on poverty should not just be directed at bringing people out of poverty rather it should seek to change the normal condition of human beings. Attacking the roots of the issue is the only way a chronic condition that poverty has become can be stamped out.

What drives poverty? First, how does one country consider itself living in extremely poor conditions? This can be answered by using tools like PPP or GDP per capita to distinguish between poor and rich countries. However, the purpose of this paper is not to discuss which country has the highest GDP, but rather to discuss the ability the poor obtain to boost their way out of poverty. Are there certain limitations that poor people face that refrain them from growing or is it just that the poor will always be poor? This paper will summarize main arguments of mechanisms that give rise to poverty traps from the article, Do Poverty Traps Exist. Based on these summaries, I will conduct further critical reviews on some and provide evidence to back my opinion on the specific mechanism at hand.

Poverty is the state of being extremely poor and being inferior in quality. Nearly half of the world’s population, nearly 3 billion people, live on less than two dollars a day and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the poorest 48 nations is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined. Poverty can be caused by many issues particularly social and economic reasons. There have been many attempts to address poverty on a global scale and these will be explored.

Sen explains that poverty is capability deprivation, and therefore not a lack of income, but a lack of access to opportunity. This shows that exclusive economic growth and development may not address all of the problems associated with poverty and therefore would not lead directly to human development, contradictory to what Modernization theory would suggest. It is therefore necessary to additionally support political and social development, as all three types of development are entwined in such a way that near simultaneous improvement is necessary for optimum development gains.

The idea of poverty couldn’t be farther from appealing to the public. When one thinks of “poverty”, one can easily imagine the neighborhood hobo who, even though one may feel sorry for, he/she would much rather continue enjoying one’s designer clothing and suitable shelter. However, not only does the public fear the idea of becoming poor, but also the stockbrokers, the government and generally those who are acutely aware of the poverty’s effect on the economic status of a country. The idea of poverty’s effect on economic costs is based off the assumption that those in poverty reduce the overall productivity of a nation, resulting in a lower gross domestic product and lower productivity. While core characteristics of poverty may be similar

Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed. Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised

After market reforms where announced in the late 1970s by Deng Xiaoping (paramount leader), China has been among the most rapidly growing economies in the world. Although having serious natural resource scarcity this growth has been speared headed through 80% of china’s exports are manufactured goods making china heavily dependant on international markets (export-led) . The Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP) of china in 1962 was at record lows of 130.14 USD, since market reforms, China regularly exceeding 10% GDP growth annually (figure 1) and was last recorded at 6416.18 US dollars in 2015 .

From the above table it is evident that there is a correlation of 97% brtween good governance and Human Development Index.

Poor Economics offers a refreshing insight into the ongoing battle against global poverty in an understandable and reader friendly manner. Banerjee and Duflo begin the book with the assertion that when we see statistics regarding poverty, we have a tendency to ignore them and turn our attention elsewhere. The cause of this reaction is rooted in the belief that poverty is too big to fix, or rather, there is no definitive answer to ending poverty. Poverty, according to them, is much more than just being poor and hungry. Poverty is poor health, poor education, poor quality of life, and difficulty realizing ambitions (Banerjee & Duflo). Banerjee and Duflo have spent the greater part of the last two decades travelling to low-income countries to observe anything and everything related to poverty. Their research is presented in the book as an easy-to-read summary of their findings. It lacks all the fancy terminology and phrases used by economists that only confuse the public.