JESSE NAIDOO: Economic growth is the antipoverty strategy that actually works
If the number of poor falls quickly, few of us will mope about a billionaire buying an extra yacht
A common way of measuring economic growth is by tracking changes in GDP per capita. While there are important and well-known flaws to this measure — if environmental damage is unpriced, for example, or if there are changes in the value of work done in the household (think child-rearing or home-cooked meals) — it still captures average living standards in a way that is comparable across countries and over time.
It is true that growth in average incomes does not guarantee that everyone will benefit equally — some people will get rich before others, after all. But are there any real examples of growth actually making poverty worse? Well, no, not really...
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