Fewer, Richer, Greener

14The Alleviation of Poverty

Until humans came along, poverty was the natural state of every member of every species that ever existed. Think about that. If you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, and most creatures generally don’t, you’re poor.

Fifty or even 20 years ago, for half the world’s population to be middle class or better was unimaginable. Poverty was the natural state of almost everyone outside of the developed world. Yet in September 2018 it was announced to great fanfare that half the world’s population is now middle class or better.¹ Despite the tremendous gain, the alleviation of global poverty is still the most important problem we face.

Half the (human) world is still poor and there is no reason that they should be. Although some might disagree, I’d assert that the half of the world’s population that is still poor is no less intelligent, or industrious, or audacious than the half that is not. They are cursed with bad institutions, the burdens of history, unkind geography, and just plain lousy luck.

I’ve entitled this chapter “The Alleviation of Poverty” in imitation of Milton Friedman, almost always a good person to imitate. His 1962 book, Capitalism and Freedom, contained a chapter with exactly that title.² His chapter was mostly a pitch for a negative income tax, but the chapter title homed in on what I think most of us would most like to achieve: the betterment of those who have little.

Bottom Up and Top Down

There are two ways to alleviate ...