Poverty is extremely distressing but one of the quiet aspects of the world development over the past decades is how poverty has been killed off. Based upon 2004 figures, the World Bank reports that "The proportion of people living in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day dropped by almost half between 1981 and 2001, from 40 percent to 21 percent of the global population. In absolute terms, this means that the number people living in poverty fell from 1.5 billion in 1981 to 1.1 billion in 2001. "
Can you imagine that? 400 million people have been lifted out of poverty in a mere 20 years!!!! that is like raising the WHOLE population of Europe up by a level of magnitude of income! And for all its faults, the increased trade, capitalism and increased opportunities are helping to do so. Look at the story referenced in this post, a poverty striken country like India is now moving into the middle of the income ladder of countries. For a billion population, that's a huge deal! But still a long way to go, check out the latest figures here.
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