Latest news with #poverty
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Contra John Lennon In 1980, The Chinese Are Eating. Let's Celebrate It
NEW YORK - CIRCA 1973: Former Beatle John Lennon poses for a photo circa 1973 in New York City, New ... More York. (Photo by) John Lennon recorded 'Nobody Told Me' on August 7, 1980. In the song he famously told listeners 'They're starving back in China so finish what you got.' It was recently reported that since the 1980s, 800 million Chinese have risen out of poverty. Stop and think about that, particularly in relation to Lennon's lyrics. While today there are 5,500 McDonald's in China, in 1980 there were none. The first China-based store opened in October of 1990. The Chinese are eating. While communism is the ideology of desperation, and per Lennon, starvation, its antithesis is the stuff of abundance. McDonald's everywhere you look abundance. Because China used to be communist, food used to be scarce. That food isn't scarce now tells us China is no longer communist. Really, what else could rising acquisitiveness (including a particular fondness for American plenty) signal? Unless the Chinese people are superhuman such that they're uniquely capable of overcoming collectivism, it must be said that collectivism long ago ceased to define the Chinese experience. This is a useful distinction to make as politicians and pundits in the U.S. continue to attack Chinese businesses for having the temerity to operate like – yes – profit-motivated American businesses. For the longest time Americans yearned for China to leave communism behind, only for the country to do just that. Evidence supporting the claim that China has tossed communism in the proverbial dustbin can be found in the growing number of businesses that have originated in China, only to expand globally. Think SHEIN, Temu, Baidu, Alibaba, MYbank, TikTok, and countless others not mentioned along with even more on the way. What we're seeing in China is proof of what we Americans have long believed: when people are free, they prosper. The previous truth is almost trite it's so simple, but true it is. The Chinese weren't formerly desperately poor and starving because they lacked talent or drive, but because an unnatural, anti-human ideology was foisted on them in cruel fashion. Thankfully once again China is no longer communist. No doubt its ruling political party is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but the name no longer fits the ideology. Though the CCP oversees China, it now oversees a market economy. Yes, the CCP is no longer communist. Things have changed because views do. Americans know this well. A Republican Party long associated with free trade and reverence for business increasingly embraces tariffs while attacking the best and brightest of U.S. commerce. The change in the Republican party not infrequently reveals itself in its support for the political harassment of businesses with Chinese origins that are prospering in the U.S. The explanation used for the persecution of Chinese businesses is their 'mandated allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.' It's just a veiled excuse for protectionism, one that glosses over the happy fact that the Chinese Communist Party is no longer communist. See the 800 million who've escaped poverty since Lennon recorded 'Nobody Told Me.' Lennon's words have a dated quality to them precisely because the Chinese are eating. And they're eating because China is no longer communist. Let's celebrate this truth, rather than harassing and banning the businesses that confirm it.
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
War-torn nations face growing poverty and hunger crisis
WASHINGTON: The world's most desperate countries are falling further and further behind, their plight worsened by conflicts that are growing deadlier and more frequent. That is the sobering conclusion of the World Bank's first comprehensive study of how 39 countries contending with 'fragile and conflict-affected situations'' have fared since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. 'Economic stagnation — rather than growth — has been the norm in economies hit by conflict and instability,' said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank's deputy chief economist. Since 2020, the 39 countries, which range from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific to Mozambique in sub-Saharan Africa, have seen their economic output per person fall by an average 1.8 percent a year. In other developing countries, by contrast, it grew by an average of 2.9 percent a year over the same period. The World Bank finds that countries involved in high-intensity conflict — which result in more than 150 deaths per million people — experience a cumulative drop of 20% in their gross domestic product, or the output of goods and services, after five years. More than 420 million people in the fragile economies are living on less than $3 a day — the bank's definition of extreme poverty. That is more than the combined total of everywhere else, even though the 39 countries account for less than 15 percent of the world's population. Many of these countries have long-standing problems with crumbling infrastructure, weak governance, and low educational standards. People in the 39 countries get an average of just six years of schooling, three years fewer than those in other low- and middle-income countries. Life expectancy is five years shorter, and infant mortality is twice as high. Increasing conflicts have made things worse. In the 2000s, the world saw an annual average of just over 6,000 conflicts — in which organized groups used armed force against other groups or civilians and caused at least one death. Now the yearly average exceeds 20,000. The conflicts are more lethal, too: In the 2000s, they took an average of fewer than 42,000 lives a year. From 2000 through 2024, the number averaged almost 194,000. Of the 39 countries, 21 are involved in active conflicts, including Ukraine, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Gaza. The World Bank finds that countries involved in high-intensity conflict — which result in more than 150 deaths per million people — experience a cumulative drop of 20 percent in their gross domestic product, or the output of goods and services, after five years. More conflict also means more hunger: The World Bank estimated that 18 percent — around 200 million — of the people in the 39 countries are 'experiencing acute food insecurity'' compared with just 1 percent in other low and middle-income countries. Some countries have managed to escape the cycle of conflict and economic fragility. Kose cites Nepal; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Rwanda; and Sri Lanka as relative success stories. And the World Bank report notes that the 39 countries do enjoy strengths, including natural resources such as oil and natural gas, and a lot of young, working-age people at a time when many economies are aging. 'Some of them are very rich when it comes to their tourism potential,'' Kose said. 'But you need to have security established. You and I are not going to go and visit these places unless they are safe, even though they might be the most beautiful places in the world.''
The Independent
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
The prime minister's welfare U-turn is welcome – but not the end of the matter
No doubt there is much relief in No 10, in the Treasury, at the Department for Work and Pensions and in the whips' office, that the welfare reforms crisis is over. That, however, is as nothing to the emotions being felt by the estimated 800,000 people who had been traumatised by the thought of losing around £3,850 in their annual income. The government's own assessment was that some 250,000 of them would thereby be pushed into relative poverty. Many were in despair. Behind the official impact assessments was an unmeasurable quantity of prospective human misery. While the fates of Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Liz Kendall, Morgan McSweeney and various other Labour figures have, understandably, been the subject of much media attention, it is not too sanctimonious to point out that this whole debate should not be all about the careers of frankly well-heeled politicians and advisers – but those who need help simply to survive. This is about them – and it is a matter of some embarrassment, and shame, that Labour MPs only roused themselves to do anything about the coming disaster when they themselves had been given a shock of their own after their party's dismal performance at the local elections and the Runcorn by-election. Mass redundancies at the next general election loomed into view. Suddenly, their consciences emerged from the inner recesses of their brains, ready for a wrestling match. For a change, the consciences won. It need not have been like this. It is, indeed, incomprehensible that the government was proposing such legislation without concluding their consultations with groups representing disabled people. Despite Ms Kendall's efforts to keep the focus on improving their quality of life by giving people with disabilities the job opportunities they yearn for, the Treasury's rush to find some quick savings in public expenditure gave the exercise a mean-spirited vibe. This was never a promising background for a sensible and sensitive reform of the social security system. There were never any estimates, let alone guarantees, about how many disabled people would be lifted out of poverty into jobs, and the risks were far too great. That is why ministers lost the argument. The result is the messy compromise that has now emerged. Politically, it has averted a parliamentary nightmare, and it will mean that the government gets much of its reforms through. However, the partial U-turn still leaves the government looking foolish, even callous. It is not only the vulnerable people terrified by the now-ditched reforms who will have lost trust in Sir Keir's administration, but the electorate as a whole. Almost a year ago Labour campaigned on 'Change'; no one interpreted that as an assault on the welfare state, with the deeply unpopular means-testing of the pensioners' winter fuel allowance and clumsy changes to universal credit and personal independence payments (PIP). Sir Keir and his colleagues promised an end to the 'chaos and confusion' that reigned under the Conservatives. With three panicky volte-faces in as many weeks (including on winter fuel allowance and the national grooming gangs inquiry), the government is looking incompetent, not in control of events, and divided. In the revised package of measures there are, nonetheless, very welcome improvements. A reform of the points-based system for assessing PIP, a rather crude and dehumanising process, led by the social security minister Sir Stephen Timms, will now be 'co-produced' with disability rights organisations – a major breakthrough. Ms Kendall's excellent schemes to provide personal assistance, coaching and advice to open up job opportunities are to be brought forward. Another valuable enhancement. The 'right to try', widely welcomed and reiterated, will also be a great source of reassurance to people nervous about losing their hard-fought benefits if taking a particular job doesn't work out for them. This also means they don't have to go through another gruelling reassessment for PIP eligibility. What remains, however, is a two-tier regime, where existing claimants have a guarantee that none of their income will be lost, but new applicants for PIP and the health element of universal credit face a potentially much more difficult time. Ms Kendall is right to point out that such a situation is not so unusual when changes to social security are made, such as when the two-child benefit cap was introduced, or the successive postponements in the qualifying age for the state pension. However, that does not make such a system right. If it is unacceptable to drive people with certain types of disability into poverty in 2025, why is it the right thing to do in, say, 2028 or 2029? Ms Kendall also says she wants a system that is fair to people who cannot work, and fair to the taxpayer. That is a fine ideal, but, perhaps through no fault of hers, the right balance is yet to be struck. Clearly, much more serious work remains if the social security system is to be placed on a sustainable basis. It is perfectly true that it must command the confidence of the tax-paying public, who pay for it as well as benefit from it. It will also have to include the biggest single element in the system by far, the state pension. Unavoidably, it also has to be joined to a new approach to paying for adult social care, a challenge successive governments of all parties have ducked for decades. The UK's demographics demand a more comprehensive review of the welfare state, and the creation of something much closer to the cross-party consensus that prevailed for so long after the Beveridge report laid the foundations for social protections in 1942. As yet, there's no sign of that. Just some chaos and confusion.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
World Bank warns that 39 fragile states are falling further behind as conflicts grow, get deadlier
The world's most desperate countries are falling further and further behind, their plight worsened by conflicts that are growing deadlier and more frequent. That is the sobering conclusion of the World Bank's first comprehensive study of how 39 countries contending with 'fragile and conflict-affected situations'' have fared since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. 'Economic stagnation —rather than growth —has been the norm in economies hit by conflict and instability,' said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank's deputy chief economist. Since 2020, the 39 countries, which range from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific to Mozambique in sub-Saharan Africa, have seen their economic output per person fall by an average 1.8% a year. In other developing countries, by contrast, it grew by an average 2.9% a year over the same period. More than 420 million people in the fragile economies are living on less than $3 a day — the bank's definition of extreme poverty. That is more than everywhere else combined, even though the 39 countries account for less than 15% of the world's people. Many of these countries have longstanding problems with crumbling infrastructure, weak governments and low levels of education. People in the 39 countries get an average of just six years of schooling, three years fewer than those in other low- and middle-income countries. Life expectancy is five years shorter and infant mortality is twice as high. Increasing conflicts have made things worse. In the 2000s, the world saw an annual average of just over 6,000 conflicts — in which organized groups used armed force against other groups or against civilians and cause at least one death. Now the annual average exceeds 20,000. The conflicts are more lethal, too: In the 2000s, they took an average of fewer than 42,000 lives a year. From 2000 through 2024, the number averaged almost 194,000. Of the 39 countries, 21 are involved in active conflicts, including Ukraine, Sudan, Ethiopia and Gaza. The World Bank finds that countries involved in high-intensity conflict — which kill more than 150 out of every 1 million people — see a cumulative drop of 20% after five years in their gross domestic product, the output of goods and services. More conflict also means more hunger: The World Bank estimated that 18% -- around 200 million – of the people in the 39 countries are 'experiencing acute food insecurity'' compared with just 1% in other low and middle-income countries. Some countries have managed to escape the cycle of conflict and economic fragility. Kose cites Nepal; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Rwanda; and Sri Lanka as relative success stories. And the World Bank report notes that the 39 countries do enjoy strengths, including natural resources such as oil and natural gas and a lot of young, working-age people at a time when many economies are aging. 'Some of them are very rich when it comes to their tourism potential,'' Kose said. 'But you need to have security established. You and I are not going to go and visit these places unless they are safe even though they might be the most beautiful places in the world.''
Arab News
9 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Surge in conflicts fuels extreme poverty: World Bank
WASHINGTON: Conflicts and related fatalities have more than tripled since the early 2000s, fueling extreme poverty, the World Bank said in fragile and conflict-affected regions have become 'the epicenter of global poverty and food insecurity, a situation increasingly shaped by the frequency and intensity of conflict,' the bank added in a new year, 421 million people get by on less than $3 a day in places hit by conflict or instability — a situation of extreme poverty — and the number is poised to hit 435 million by attention has been focused on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East for the past three years, said World Bank Group chief economist Indermit 'half of the countries facing conflict or instability today have been in such conditions for 15 years or more,' he 39 economies are classified as facing such conditions, and 21 of them are in active conflict, the Washington-based development lender list includes Ukraine, Somalia, South Sudan and the West Bank and also includes Iraq although not report flagged that moves to prevent conflict can bring high returns, with timely interventions being 'far more cost-effective than responding after violence erupts.'It also said that some of these economies have advantages that could be used to reignite growth, noting that places like Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo are rich in minerals key to clean tech like electric vehicles and solar panels.'Economic stagnation — rather than growth — has been the norm in economies hit by conflict and instability over the past decade and a half,' said Ayhan Kose, World Bank Group deputy chief bank's report noted that high-intensity conflicts, which kill more than 150 per million people, are typically followed by a cumulative fall of around 20 percent in GDP per capita after five years.
