EC 417 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EC 417 - Essay Example He stresses the point that economists and the World Bank which he represent, have great concerns about improved standards of living for poor countries which would enable people in villages like Gulvera to live better. This Easterly (2002) indicates would prevent them from being hungry and diseased. He indicates that increases in GDP per capita would translate into rising income for the poor, lifting them out of poverty. Easterly (2002) then uses the situation in Lahore to look at a number of problems facing the poorest countries compared to the richest. These include infant mortality, diseases and nutritional deficiencies. Easterly (2002) also provides an explanation of the higher infant mortality rates and provides information on the low cost per dose of oral rehydration and vaccination that would prevent these deaths and diseases; and exclaimed that despite the low cost, the extent of poverty is significant. Easterly (2002) sought to emphasize the point that wealth has positive imp lications for one’s health and indicates that findings suggest a relationship between infant mortality and economic growth which implies that the high death rate of infants in Africa in 1990 could have been prevented if the standards of living in was just a little higher than it was. In terms of assessing the poorest of the poor the Easterly points to how they are treated in the poorest countries of the world by the poor themselves and how they are described. Some of the countries mentioned are Tombouctou, commonly referred to as Timbuktu in Mali which is one of the poorest countries in the world and where a 1987 survey showed that 41% of children die before reaching age five. Easterly (2002) also gives some startling statistics on the calorie intake of the poorest 5th countries and the richest 5th countries, and notes the absence of famine in the richest countries while a 1/4th of the poorest countries faced famines in the last three decades. Easterly also looked at the oppr ession of the poor worldwide, child labor which is ignored in 88% of the countries, child prostitution and the oppression of women which takes many forms including wife beating in Jamaica. Easterly (2002) then provides a definition of poverty as: â€Å"that part of the population with incomes below $1 per day†. Easterly (2002) stresses the point that a fast growth rate will lead to fast poverty reduction as economic contraction goes along with increased poverty. Easterly (2002) also gave examples of poverty increasing significantly with severe recession in countries in West Africa as well as the effects of economic growth and economic contractions in Asia. Easterly also points to World Bank statistics that found that a change in the average income of a society led to a proportionate change in the poorest 20% of the population and suggests that the poor could improve their standard of living through the redistribution of income and economic growth. In concluding the Chapter Ea sterly points to the quest of improving the welfare of poor and re-emphasizes the importance of this to the next generation. Chapter 2 – Aid for Investment Easterly starts with a quote, this time from Shakespeare’s â€Å"Two Gentlemen of Verona† as to how something becomes a habit. The focus this time was on