While there is a lot of focus on global inequality, as in the growing difference between the world's richest and poorest people. Must less attention is paid to equality, as in the shrinking...
While there is a lot of focus on global inequality, as in the growing difference between the world's richest and poorest people. Must less attention is paid to equality, as in the shrinking differences between the world's richest and poorest societies. I thought this was an interesting look at this phenomenon.
Speaking of, a personal hero of mine, Hans Rosling, died several years ago of pancreatic cancer, and his covering of this subject is why he was a hero of mine. His most famous TED talk, which I...
Exemplary
Speaking of, a personal hero of mine, Hans Rosling, died several years ago of pancreatic cancer, and his covering of this subject is why he was a hero of mine.
Watching it (and Hans' other TED Talks, and reading his posthumous book) turned me from being profoundly pessimistic about the future, into an optimist. Yes, things can still get worse, sometimes are getting worse in some countries or for individual people, and things can always be improved further too… but for the vast majority of people in the world things already are being improved, and have been steadily doing so for decades now.
p.s. if anyone wants to play with the statistics themselves, they made a really awesome interactive site for doing that: https://www.gapminder.org/tools
This seems like a good overview of largely familiar world history. I accept that it's showing something that's true: Gini inequality is a number, that number went down, and this tells us something...
This seems like a good overview of largely familiar world history.
I accept that it's showing something that's true: Gini inequality is a number, that number went down, and this tells us something about greater economic equality between people in different countries. There are fewer poor people and that's pretty important.
But I'm also doubtful that macroeconomic averages tell us much that's practical. They say little about what's going on locally, and that's even more true of worldwide averages than of nationwide averages in big countries, which can already be pretty far removed from local situations.
I expect that visiting or living in countries that have been transformed though economic growth makes a stronger impression, though? I've never been to Asia, but there are plenty of stories.
The article has a few examples of the local impacts of there being more rich or at least middle-class foreigners, for better or worse:
Of course, people tend to care about their status in relation to those around them, not necessarily with respect to others far away, whom they will rarely meet. But slipping in the global income rankings does have real costs. Many globally priced goods and experiences may become increasingly unavailable to middle-class people in the West: for example, the ability to attend international sporting or art events, vacation in exotic locations, buy the newest smartphone, or watch a new TV series may all become financially out of reach. A German worker may have to substitute a four-week vacation in Thailand with a shorter one in another, perhaps less attractive location. A hard-pressed Italian owner of an apartment in Venice may not be able to enjoy it because he needs to rent it out year-round to supplement his income.
Having spent my youth in India and going back every few years, the changes are stark. It doesn’t feel like the same place I grew up at all. The changes are even more marked in places like Korea....
Having spent my youth in India and going back every few years, the changes are stark. It doesn’t feel like the same place I grew up at all. The changes are even more marked in places like Korea. The level of development that has happened within just a generation is so significant that it has actually been socially dislocating. It’s causing mental breakdowns in people who can’t cope.
Chinese stagnation, globalization being set back hard recently, and food/resource shortages in Russia may soon being that closing gap to a screeching halt.
Chinese stagnation, globalization being set back hard recently, and food/resource shortages in Russia may soon being that closing gap to a screeching halt.
Chinese stagnation in will just be substituted by Indian and African economic development. The availability of technology renewables now means strategic access to fossil fuels is much less of a...
Chinese stagnation in will just be substituted by Indian and African economic development. The availability of technology renewables now means strategic access to fossil fuels is much less of a bottleneck.
While there is a lot of focus on global inequality, as in the growing difference between the world's richest and poorest people. Must less attention is paid to equality, as in the shrinking differences between the world's richest and poorest societies. I thought this was an interesting look at this phenomenon.
Speaking of, a personal hero of mine, Hans Rosling, died several years ago of pancreatic cancer, and his covering of this subject is why he was a hero of mine.
His most famous TED talk, which I recommend everyone watch:
The best stats you've ever seen
Watching it (and Hans' other TED Talks, and reading his posthumous book) turned me from being profoundly pessimistic about the future, into an optimist. Yes, things can still get worse, sometimes are getting worse in some countries or for individual people, and things can always be improved further too… but for the vast majority of people in the world things already are being improved, and have been steadily doing so for decades now.
p.s. if anyone wants to play with the statistics themselves, they made a really awesome interactive site for doing that: https://www.gapminder.org/tools
YVW and I’m glad it helped you like it helped me all those years ago. :)
This seems like a good overview of largely familiar world history.
I accept that it's showing something that's true: Gini inequality is a number, that number went down, and this tells us something about greater economic equality between people in different countries. There are fewer poor people and that's pretty important.
But I'm also doubtful that macroeconomic averages tell us much that's practical. They say little about what's going on locally, and that's even more true of worldwide averages than of nationwide averages in big countries, which can already be pretty far removed from local situations.
I expect that visiting or living in countries that have been transformed though economic growth makes a stronger impression, though? I've never been to Asia, but there are plenty of stories.
The article has a few examples of the local impacts of there being more rich or at least middle-class foreigners, for better or worse:
Having spent my youth in India and going back every few years, the changes are stark. It doesn’t feel like the same place I grew up at all. The changes are even more marked in places like Korea. The level of development that has happened within just a generation is so significant that it has actually been socially dislocating. It’s causing mental breakdowns in people who can’t cope.
Chinese stagnation, globalization being set back hard recently, and food/resource shortages in Russia may soon being that closing gap to a screeching halt.
Chinese stagnation in will just be substituted by Indian and African economic development. The availability of technology renewables now means strategic access to fossil fuels is much less of a bottleneck.