"Today, children in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely…"—Prof. Angus Deaton, @Princeton
Data: buff.ly/1K2tELk http://t.co/lrTdiLi3F7—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) July 12, 2015
A stunning aspect of The Great Escape since my parents were born
13 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics Tags: Africa, British economy, British history, child mortality, child poverty, infant mortality, life expectancies, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
Who are the top 10 in foreign remittances?
13 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, labour supply Tags: economics of the family, remittances
William Easterly on the Tyranny of Experts and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor
13 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

We now know that extreme poverty can be eradicated within one more generation
13 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: capitalism and freedom, extreme poverty, global poverty, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
"We now know that extreme poverty can be eradicated within one more generation." — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon http://t.co/hMjKtYlh5h—
RFE/RL (@RFERL) July 07, 2015
Creative destruction in Chinese tourism
12 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth miracles Tags: China, creative destruction, economics of tourism
Astonishing chart: How much money is spent by Chinese tourists each year, via dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/file… http://t.co/qfVsavbNsV—
Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) July 12, 2015
The Great Escape in China, India and Indonesia
12 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics Tags: China, India, Indonesia, life expectancies, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
These 4 nations are 50% of mankind. That's 3.5 billion people who are living longer. buff.ly/1Kle6mU #health http://t.co/949oqisMsL—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) June 30, 2015
Naomi Klein versus The Great Fact
12 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: activists, do gooders, evidence-based policy, extreme poverty, global poverty, Naomi Klein, The Great Enrichment, The Great Fact
71% of the world live on less than $10 per day buff.ly/1D5kA3c http://t.co/GLCifBBOGP—
Business Insider (@businessinsider) July 11, 2015
Extreme poverty declined > 50% from 1.9 bil in '90 to 836 mil today: on.undp.org/Ppj00 #WPD2015 #MDGs http://t.co/vUDO5AYd4H—
UN Development (@UNDP) July 12, 2015
The number of ‘low-income’ countries halved since 1994
12 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
MAP showing location of 31 low-income countries, fewest since 1994; only 4 are outside Africa gu.com/p/4abxb/stw http://t.co/R0rzLzP6cc—
Mark Anderson (@MarkC_Anderson) July 10, 2015
The Great Escape: infant mortality since 1990
10 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics Tags: child poverty, extreme poverty, global poverty, infant mortality, life expectancies, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
Child mortality declined in all world regions.
Here is by how much: http://t.co/06lS3ZELKr—
Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) June 26, 2015
The reduction of Polio in Africa
10 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics Tags: Africa, anti-vaccination movement, polio, quackery, vaccinations, vaccines
The reduction of Polio in Africa. http://t.co/JKL1Kfx2qr—
Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) June 29, 2015
The Great Fact: the rise of the middle class in developing countries
09 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
China pulled 203m into the middle class from 2001-11; more than half the global gain of 385m pewrsr.ch/1LSs6Wz http://t.co/DiskvneykJ—
Rakesh Kochhar (@RakeshKochhar) July 08, 2015
Richer is greener: environmentalists are Environmental Kuznets Curve deniers
07 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, development economics, economic growth, economic history, energy economics, environmental economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, health and safety, industrial organisation, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, property rights, public economics Tags: healthier is wealthier, Japan, Kuznets environmental curve, richer is greener, richer is safer
The Kuznets environmental curve describes an empirical regularity between environmental quality and economic growth. Outdoor water, air and other pollution first worse and then improves as a country first experiences economic growth and development.

While many pollutants exhibit this pattern in the Kuznets environmental curve, peak pollution levels occur at different income levels for different pollutants, countries and time periods. John Tierney explains:
In dozens of studies, researchers identified Kuznets curves for a variety of environmental problems.
There are exceptions to the trend, especially in countries with inept governments and poor systems of property rights, but in general, richer is eventually greener.
As incomes go up, people often focus first on cleaning up their drinking water, and then later on air pollutants like sulphur dioxide.
As their wealth grows, people consume more energy, but they move to more efficient and cleaner sources — from wood to coal and oil, and then to natural gas and nuclear power, progressively emitting less carbon per unit of energy.
When I was living in Japan in the mid 1990s, they just completed a period of rapid operation of the Kuznets environmental curve. I was told by my professors at Graduate School that in the 1960s, cities and prefectures welcomed polluting industries because of the better paid jobs they offered. At that time, shipping companies used like to go to Tokyo because the pollution in Tokyo Bay was so bad that it would clean all the barnacles off their ships. That made them sail faster.
Japanese incomes and wages doubled over the course of the 1960s. The Japanese voter was now prepared to support stricter pollution standards and environmental controls.
Life expectancy is at an all time high: buff.ly/1ICraAi http://t.co/jgRqKy8LfQ—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) June 28, 2015
In the early 1970s, the ruling LDP stole the long-standing environmental policies of their opponents in a big crack down on pollution because the country could now afforded them.
Poverty has plummeted in East Asia and the world. buff.ly/1NtIDyY http://t.co/SsY3sf3kyH—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) July 01, 2015
Plenty of developing countries are democracies now. Their people could demand through the ballot box higher environmental standards and clean tap water but they don’t because of its cost to economic development.
These 4 nations are 50% of mankind. That's 3.5 billion people who are living longer. buff.ly/1Kle6mU #health http://t.co/949oqisMsL—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) June 30, 2015
The environmental movement lives in a state of denial regarding the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality.
OECD Better Life Index correlates with GDP
But US lower than poorer countries
& NZL higher than richer countries http://t.co/yrTCnO1B0l—
Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) June 26, 2015
Fertility is down everywhere
07 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, population economics Tags: demographic transition, economics of fertility
The world is making less people en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_fer… | http://t.co/FlgwlrkUJO—
Charts and Maps (@ChartsAndMaps) April 04, 2015
Matt Ridley on the Pope and The Great Fact
06 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, development economics, economic history, economics of regulation, energy economics, entrepreneurship, environmental economics, financial economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, liberalism, survivor principle Tags: doomsday prophecies, Matt Ridley doomsday prophets, Papal economics, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
See which way the data points for yourself, like @mattwridley. buff.ly/1HsZxgx #health #progress http://t.co/B3KbUJOn05—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) June 30, 2015
Recent Comments