poverty

The Poor Benefit Most

by Ryan Young on November 26, 2011

in Economy, Sanctimony, Zeitgeist

Deirdre McCloskey’s Great Fact is the leaps and bounds that human well-being has made over the last 200 years. The improvement is a factor of at least 16 in monetary terms, and as much as 100-fold when accounting for the improved quality of goods. Think of the difference between a CD and an iPod. Not 16 or 100 percent; 16 or 100-fold. That’s huge.

The improvement is so huge that she believes the Great Fact is the most important event in human history since the Agricultural Revolution asserted itself around 10,000 years ago. And the best news about the Great Fact should bring cheer to anyone who holds a place in their heart for the poor:

In statistics and in substance the very poorest have benefitted the most. Robert Fogel, a careful student of such matters, notes that “the average real income of the bottom fifth of the [American] population has multiplied by some twentyfold since 1890, several times more than the gain realized by the rest of the population.” The bottom 10 percent have moved from undernutrition to overnutrition, and from crowded slum housing to uncrowded slum housing, and from broken-down buses to broken-down automobiles.

Deirdre McCloskey, Bourgeouis Dignity, p. 72.

There’s still a ways to go, obviously. So let’s keep it going. But anyone who denies the significance of the massive gains already made contributes nothing towards the noble cause of eradicating global poverty, and in fact poisons the project.

Legislating the Way to Prosperity

by Ryan Young on March 14, 2011

in Economy, Politics as Usual

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. has a novel idea for ending poverty: make it illegal. He explains in this short video of a speech he gave on the House floor:

The Constitution should be amended to guarantee everyone the right to a decent home. That way, everyone will get one. In a speech he gave on the House floor, he asks, “What would that do for home construction in this nation? What would that do for millions of unemployed people?”

The Constitution should also be amended to guarantee the right to decent health care. Jackson implores, “How many millions of doctors would such a right create?”

Education needs an amendment, too. “How many schools would such a right build, from Maine to California?” Jackson goes on to wonder how many jobs would be created by giving every student and iPod and a laptop.

[click to continue…]

Political Pessimism, Human Optimism

by Ryan Young on August 19, 2010

in Economy, International, Personal Liberty, Zeitgeist

Despite my pessimism (realism?) about politics, ever since reading Julian Simon, I have been an optimist when it comes to progress and the human condition. Since the industrial revolution, each generation has lived longer and better than the last. By that measure, the last decade was the best in human history.

This despite the last decade being an unmitigated political disaster, at least in America. President Bush grew government faster than any president since Lyndon Johnson. Between new health care entitlements, massive energy and farm bills, two wars, and more than 30,000 new regulations, the Bush administration was no friend of limited government.

President Obama has so far been no better. If anything, his policies are George W. Bush’s on steroids.

Fortunately, the institutional foundations of the market economy are stronger than any bumbling politician. Wherever there is peace, stability, tolerably low corruption, and secure property rights, people will make their lives better over time, despite meddlesome regulators getting in the way. The pattern is global.

Via Ronald Bailey, a brilliant article in Foreign Policy reinforces that point. Things really are getting better. The last decade was the best in human history. Read the whole thing. If you’re despairing over the state of the world, the data are a wonderful cure for pessimism. Here’s a taste:

Consider that in 1990, roughly half the global population lived on less than $1 a day; by 2007, the proportion had shrunk to 28 percent — and it will be lower still by the close of 2010. That’s because, though the financial crisis briefly stalled progress on income growth, it was just a hiccup in the decade’s relentless GDP climb.

Friedman embraces “E.T.” as solution to energy problems

by Fran Smith on November 18, 2009

in Energy, Environment, Global Warming

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Thomas L. Friedman’s op-ed in the NYT today could have been written by Paul Krugman.  And that’s not a compliment.

Friedman, like Krugman, waxes hysterical about those who are opposing  the cap-and-trade energy bill – those “deniers.” And, also like Krugman, he sets up those opponents as straw men that he can readily knock down.  In today’s article, Friedman worries about U.S. dependence on foreign oil supplied by  ”petro-dictators” and he fears ever-rising prices for increasingly scarce fossil fuels.

So either the opponents of a serious energy/climate bill with a price on carbon don’t care about our being addicted to oil and dependent on petro-dictators forever or they really believe that we will not be adding 2.5 billion more people who want to live like us, so the price of oil won’t go up very far and, therefore, we shouldn’t raise taxes to stimulate clean, renewable alternatives and energy efficiency.

Friedman’s terror about world population growth, especially growth in developing countries, is Malthusian.  (See Julian Simon on population and natural resources in “The Ultimate Resource II.”) . And Friedman  doesn’t seem to want those people to use energy to improve their standard of living.  Here’s what he says about that dream for a better life:

The world keeps getting flatter – more and more people can now see how we live, aspire to our lifestyle and even take our jobs so they can live how we live. So not only are we adding 2.5 billion people by 2050, but many more will live like “Americans” – with American-size homes, American-size cars, eating American-size Big Macs.

Such horror one can’t imagine for a person living at a subsistence level in India or China.

In his article, Friedman says that “clean energy” is the answer to the world’s energy problems.  He embraces  “E.T.” (no, not that visitor from another planet), but “energy technology”  that is carbon-less and efficient.

And we believe the best way to launch E.T. is to set a fixed, long-term price on carbon – combine it with the Obama team’s impressive stimulus for green-tech – and then let the free market and innovation do the rest.

His solution then is to tax conventional energy and subsidize alternative energy sources. Right.  That’s clearly an innovative solution that nobody has thought of.  And how would this affect the population bomb he fears?  Undoubtedly, raising the price of fossil fuels could indeed have an effect on developing countries’ populations.  While waiting for those alternative energy sources to develop, they’ll  continue to face poverty and resultant devastating diseases.  Not surprisingly, Friedman doesn’t address that problem.

LibertyWeek 69: Feeding the World with Property Rights

by Richard Morrison on November 17, 2009

in CEI Projects, Podcast

Richard Morrison throws in with Jeremy Lott and William Yeatman to bring you Episode 69 of the LibertyWeek podcast. We start by pigging out on swine flu statistics, putting off action on global warming and wagging our finger at a corrupt judge. We proceed with the fight between Intel and AMD and wrap up with an interview with CEI Senior Fellow Gregory Conko on how to end world hunger.

UnderMining Prosperity

by Richard Morrison on July 3, 2009 · 1 comment

in Environment, Natural Resources, Video, Zeitgeist

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p691OaOKUE8 285 234]

Between the Headlines:”Sustainability” Means Sustainably Poor

by Fred Smith on April 21, 2009

in Agriculture, International, Labor, Natural Resources, Private Conservation, Trade, Zeitgeist

“Mars Sets Goal for Sustainable Cocoa Sources”

Another Washington Post story suggests that “sustainability” –whatever it may mean — still can stir the cold hearts of capitalist managers.  Utopians have long been distressed by the differential working conditions around the world.  Poverty does have less pleasant impacts than affluence.  The problem is that associated with all egalitarian policies.

Our desire to improve the plight of the poor too often merely cuts away the rungs on the ladder out of poverty.

Marlo Lewis on California’s Global Warming Regulation

by Richard Morrison on January 20, 2009

in Video

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1zWB5yoDWA 285 234]

NEW VIDEO: Global Warming and Eco-Imperialism

by Richard Morrison on October 8, 2008

in Environment, Global Warming, Precaution & Risk, Sanctimony

Coming from the UK, CEI Senior Fellow Iain Murray knows a little something about the history of political empires. Today, however, we find ourselves faced with a new era of eco-imperialism, particularly in the field of global warming policy. Iain explains:

“Eco-Imperialism” = efforts by the developed world to impose its environmental priorities on the developing world. Developed countries seek to pressure the Third World into reduce greenhouse gas emissions “for the sake of the planet,” regardless of its impact on the standard of living and prospects for economic growth in those nations. Cost-effective energy use is critical for Third World people, and is the fastest path toward ending poverty.

This, and other great videos, are also available at the new online multimedia destination CEI On Demand.