5.3

1
5.3Is World Poverty Falling? Angus Deaton How
easily can the numbers be manipulated? Poverty
in India
Over ¼ of the worlds poor lives in India. NAS v.
NSS numbers A huge change or no change? Tweak
with the instrument and of course youll find a
difference --with the new survey, poverty
numbers reduced from 32 of the population to
26 Does measuring changes in poverty by changes
in consumption raise issues? As for inequality,
it seems to be growing in recent years. While
consumption rates raised for the poor, they
lagged behind the average consumption rates,
which indicates overall poverty improvement, but
a still widening gap between those who are poor
and those who are not.
2
5.4 A Critical Look at Measurements of Economic
Progress, The International Forum on
Globalization The current measure of success
is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which meshes
quite well with the corporate-driven perspective
of global capitalism.
The GDP is defined as the rate at which
resources are converted to commodities and sold,
the activities that go into that process, and all
other paid services and activities in the formal
economy (347). So long as the GDP is up,
were doing wellright?
Not necessarily. The GDP goes up due to
clear-cutting of forests, strip-mining of
mountaintops, construction of toxic dumps,
reconstruction after natural disasters (or
man-made disasters), war, crime, and expansion of
the prison and military systems. unpaid labor
(like housework, child-rearing, elder care) is
not counted here
3
Cobb Halstead state that the GDP is the
statistical distillation of the worldview of
conventional economics. It basically assumes
that everything produced is good by definition
(347).
The GDP does not account for the depletion of
natural capitaltopsoil, minerals, forests,
rivers, life in the seas, the atmosphere (348),
the destruction of which impacts future
productivity and survival for those who depend on
these for survival. Increased corporate
pollution and pesticide use contribute doubly to
the GDPfirstly for their initial use, adding to
productivity, and secondly due to the increase in
medical visits and bills. Marriages add nothing
to the economy (even working as single
individuals, the two people still make the same
amount if they were married) while divorce (with
lawyers fees and such) raise the GDP.
Economic growth at what costs? Is risking social
and environmental collapse a reality because of
this?
4
GDP, the Third World, and the Poor
Many economists advocate for the reduction of
global poverty through economic growth, but
economic growth often translates to environmental
and social degradation for the poor and those in
the Third World. GDP reveals nothing about
who benefits from growth (349) Even though
growth may technically occur, the majority of
Third World countries citizens never have the
opportunity to benefit from this economic
changesince they remain in abject poverty.
Also, the change from using the Gross National
Product (GNP) to using the GDP further distorted
the economic truths about the poor and Third
World countries through devising a measure that
favored multinational corporations. Under the
GNP, the profits of corporations based in the
United States would be attributed to the nation
in which the corporations were based (351). If
McDonalds owns businesses in India, under the
GDP these profits are attributed to Indias
growth rather than the United States.
5
Some organizations have attempted to create a
measurement that includes those socially and
environmentally significant changes. Redefining
Progress, out of Berkeley, CA, has developed an
alternative called the Genuine Progress Indicator
(GPI) that attempts to more accurately measure
the impacts of economy and globalization on
societies. So what are the implications of
the current system in sociological terms? What
might the implementation of these new
measurements do for our perception of
globalization and global poverty? Are there
still underlying problems?
6
Global Health
5.5The Current State of Global Health, World
Health Organization, 2004 Inequalities seem to be
widening, despite efforts for improvement.
Advances in biomedical sciences may actually
serve to further these inequalities due to
affordability of newly developed treatments. An
estimated 40,000 children die per day (15 million
per year) due to malnutrition and infection.
While intervention and prevention solutions
exist, and efforts could help and save the lives
of millions, the lack of knowledge comes in the
form of not knowing how to properly implement
these solutions. More Millennium Development
Goals reduce child mortality (rate of death),
improve maternal health, and combat HIV/AIDS,
malaria, and other diseases (359). The health
system too often focuses on single diseases,
while treatable and low-priority health
problems go undiagnosed or unaddressed, often
leading to death.
7
5.6 Macroeconomics of Health No Health
Available at 7.50 per Person per Year, Jeffrey
D. Sachs Many critics claim that the problem
with health care related foreign assistance is
mismanagement of health systems, but how anyone
effectively manage a health care system on 7.50
per person per year? India and Nigeria spend
around 3 in public funds per person per year,
and recall that India has ¼ of the worlds
poverty stricken population. Debt payments
often require cutting into health and educational
budgets Inability to care for people is due to
lack of resources, not mismanagement. To add
to the problem, qualified doctors often exit
their countries in search of better paid
positions, leaving the home country devoid of
both skill and funds.