poverty

Great piece from the NY Times about how economic liberalization could help India break free from the caste system.

Quoted: Chandra Bhan Prasad’s argues that India’s economic liberalization is about to destroy the caste system.

Okay, this is seriously effed up.

Quoted: The juxtaposition between poverty and growing wealth presents an unsavory dilemma for luxury goods makers jumping into India.

Poverty chic !

Quoted: A family of three squeezes onto a motorbike for their daily commute, the mother riding without a helmet and sidesaddle in the traditional Indian way — except that she has a Hermès Birkin bag (usually more than $10,000, if you can find one) prominently displayed on her wrist. Welcome to the new India — at least as Vogue sees it.

Quoted: Jeff Raikes, a 27-year veteran of Microsoft, will take over the $37 billion Gates Foundation in September. Bill and Melinda Gates tell NPR that they picked Raikes because he shares their passion to try to help minimize poverty around the globe.

Refaving because we are reading it this month for book club. To be honest, I have very mixed feelings about his arguments, but it is really interesting to read a not-so-academic critique of the international development industry by someone who:
a) Has academic standing (NYU proffessor)
b) Has experience writing for popular audiences (publishes in magazines as well as journals)
c) Has worked on the inside (World Bank economist for many years...admits to having been initially in favor of structural adjustment policies)

Quoted: Amazon.com: The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good: William Easterly: Books

Excellent article raising a lot of points about measuring inequality and using a quantitative index to assess qualitative concepts...

Quoted: Inequality is important, but the way we measure it is stupid.

Saw this at Third Place, looked interesting

Quoted: Amazon.com: The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good: Books: William Easterly by William Easterly

Quoted: Slum tourism, or “poorism,” as some call it, is catching on. From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the townships of Johannesburg to the garbage dumps of Mexico, tourists are forsaking, at least for a while, beaches and museums for crowded, dirty — and in many ways surprising — slums.

Quoted: It\'s become a TV ritual: Every year in mid-January, around the time of Martin Luther King\'s birthday, we get perfunctory network news reports about \