Why Asia is probably poorer than we think | Jayati Ghosh | Global development | theguardian.com

Why Asia is probably poorer than we think | Jayati Ghosh | Global development | theguardian.com: "The first target of the first millennium development goal (MDG) is to halve extreme poverty. It has been interpreted in terms of income poverty alone, relying on counting people living below the arbitrary global poverty line of $1.25 per day. According to this measure, there has been a global reduction of income poverty that indicates the target has already been met.



 Most of this is due to rapid poverty reduction in Asia, especially east and south-east Asia and more recently in south Asia, so it is generally felt that the region is a success story. But does this rather basic measure leave out some important aspects of poverty?



 A new report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) makes important points about the nature of poverty in Asia and how this widely used measure is inadequate to capture it. At least three more elements should be factored in: the costs of consumption for poor people; food prices, which have been rising much faster than the general price level, and vulnerability to natural disasters, climate change, economic crises and other shocks."



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