Seasoned Veracity

How To Reduce Poverty

In Christianity Today, Mark Galli shares good news from Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to 2015, by researchers Laurance Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz.

While as late as the early 1980s more than half the inhabitants of developing countries lived in extreme poverty, by 2005 that number was cut in half. By 2010, "less than 16 percent remain in poverty, and fewer than 10 percent will likely be poor by 2015." 

In some 25 years, the proportion of the population in developing nations living in extreme poverty has fallen from above 50 percent to less than 16 percent!

This is fantastic news of amazing progress! What brought about this remarkable change? What lifted these masses of people out of poverty? Foreign aid programs from developed nations? Donations given through charitable organizations? Government programs to transfer wealth from rich to poor? None of the above.

The primary factor responsible for this huge reduction in poverty is economic growth. In particular, the economic progress made in China and India over the past 25 years has lifted the standard of living for hundreds of millions of individuals.

This is not to say that the problem of poverty has been solved, or that churches and charities have no role to play in helping the poor. But the record of what has been most effective in lifting the poor out of poverty offers lessons for governments, charities and churches:

• Governments in developing nations should focus on creating and preserving a business-friendly environment, keeping corporate taxes low and offering legal safeguards for businesses to operate with freedom and security.  
• Foreign governments should focus on maintaining free trade with developing nations in order to give their businesses a chance to succeed.
• Charities should focus on educating and training the workforce in developing nations.
• Churches should help people in developing nations to acquire the moral virtues that will help them succeed as employers and employees: honesty, thrift, diligence, service, self-discipline, etc., including Godly ways of attaining and using wealth.  

(Of course, this is not all churches should do; but this would seem to be the most effective way they can achieve the goal of helping people out of poverty.)   

Thank God for successful businesses which provide jobs to lift people out of poverty and raise the standard of living for all! Business as ministry, anyone?            

Educational Points to Ponder

College isn't for everyone.

• Over the past 25 years, the total number of students in college has increased by about 50 percent. But the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics  has remained more or less constant.
• In 2009 the United States graduated 89,140 students in the visual and performing arts, more than in computer science, math, and chemical engineering combined and more than double the number of visual-and-performing-arts graduates in 1985.
• There is nothing wrong with the arts, psychology, and journalism, but graduates in these fields have lower wages and are less likely to find work in their fields than graduates in science and math. Moreover, more than half of all humanities graduates end up in jobs that don't require college degrees.
• Only 35 percent of students starting a four-year degree program will graduate within four years, and less than 60 percent will graduate within six years.
• The U.S. college dropout rate is about 40 percent, the highest college dropout rate in the industrialized world. Students with two years of college education may get something for those two years, but it's less than half of the wage gains from completing a four-year degree. No degree, few skills, and a lot of debt is not an ideal way to begin a career.
• In Germany, 97 percent of students graduate from high school, but only a third of these students go on to college. In the United States, we graduate fewer students from high school, but nearly two-thirds of those we graduate go to college.
• Instead of college, German students enter training and apprenticeship programs—many of which begin during high school. By the time they finish, they have had a far better practical education than most American students—equivalent to an American technical degree—and, as a result, they have an easier time entering the work force.

        -- Alex Tabarrok, in The Chronicle of Higher Education

Does Yogurt Grow on Trees?

Most Australian children in their last year of primary school think cotton socks come from animals while one-quarter believe yoghurt is from plants, a study warning of the growing gap between city and country found.

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) survey of almost 1,000 students in grades six and 10 found widespread misconceptions about food processing and farming.

An overwhelming majority knew where potato chips and coffee came from but almost 20 percent of the younger age group -- aged between 10 and 12 years -- thought pasta came from animals and scrambled eggs from plants.

Some 75 percent said cotton socks were an animal product and 27 percent believed yoghurt was derived from plants.

Primary industry plays a vital role in Australian's economy and society, but the gap between rural and urban communities is growing, contributing to a lack of understanding of where food and other basic necessities of life come from, the study said.
        -- from Jiji

I wonder if American kids would fare any better...

Comparison of High School Students in Different Countries

The Japan Research Institute surveyed high school students in Japan, China, South Korea and the US on the kinds of things they do in class.

• Students who take notes:
First place, Japanese at 93%; Last place, South Koreans at 68%    
• Students who talk with others:
First, Americans at 64%; Last, Chinese at 10%  
• Students who eat or drink:   
First, Americans at 47%; Last, Chinese at 2%  
• Students who read email or non-course materials: 
First, Americans at 39%; Last, Chinese at 3%  
• Students who participate in class:
First, Americans at 51%; Last, Japanese at 14%  
• Students who daydream:  
First, Americans at 59%; Last, Chinese at 18%  
• Students who sleep:
First, Japanese at 45%; Last, Chinese at 5% 

Conclusion: American students lead the way in 5 out of 7 categories!