Most prosperous year in human history!

Global poverty is in decline

By David Brooks - 11/30/04

I hate to be the bearer of good news, because only pessimists are regarded as intellectually serious, but we're in the 11th month of the most prosperous year in human history. Last week, the World Bank released a report showing that global growth ''accelerated sharply'' this year to a rate of about 4 percent.

Best of all, the poorer nations are leading the way. Some rich countries, like the United States and Japan, are doing well, but the developing world is leading this economic surge. Developing countries are seeing their economies expand by 6.1 percent this year - an unprecedented rate - and, even if you take China, India and Russia out of the equation, developing world growth is still around 5 percent.

Rest of the story...

www.helenair.com...

This is great news! But we can do alot better. When the US gets its defecit under control, and the African AIDS problem gets under control. Every year could get better and better. Free trade works!

[edit on 30-11-2004 by Carseller4]

Pleeez... not now...i've got a headache....



Do tell us all about it. I could use a good laugh.

(Other countries: yes)
Not us.

Edited to conceal my ignorance

[edit on 30-11-2004 by dgtempe]

Well, is nices to know that other countries are getting prosperous while ours keep increasing its deficit and defleting the dollar.

Perhaps one day they will become the wealthy countries while US will have to depend on their help to survive.

No news.

The argument that any year where there is economic growth is a record year for prosperity is a spurious argument indeed, because there is truly no reason short of global recession that there would not be economic growth as a measured outcome of not much happening. It's all relative.

It also pays to measure how many people are added to the proportion of the world's population below the poverty line, when you talk about "prosperity". Unless it's OK for all the "prosperity" to be increasingly channeled into the coffers of a few.

I like the author's version of "truth" later in the article:

"Just once, I'd like to see someone like Bono or Bruce Springsteen stand up at a concert and speak the truth to his fan base: that the world is complicated and there are no free lunches."

What a genius, ending with a cliche to boot.

2/10.