Growth, inequality, and globalization

It’s a bit of a long haul, but if you aren’t scared of a few tables and a little bit of economic jargon, Thomas Pogge’s excellent essay in the current issue of Dissent de-bunks the idea that economic Globalization has reduced inequality during the past thirty years. These arguments aren’t new. The statistics aren’t even original (he pulled most of them from old UN reports). Nevertheless, it makes for a thought-provoking read. It also reiterates a point that a professor I taught for in the fall tried to hammer home to our undergraduates: “poverty is as poverty is measured.”