In other news: The UN Millennium goal to halve global poverty was reached 3 years ago through globalization

Ryan Streeter
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This is incredible. Read this passage from an article by Laurence Chandy and Geoffery Gertz at Yale Global Online:

Today, we estimate that there are approximately 820 million people living on less than $1.25 a day. This means that the prime target of the Millennium Development Goals – to halve the rate of global poverty by 2015 from its 1990 level – was probably achieved around three years ago. Whereas it took 25 years to reduce poverty by half a billion people up to 2005, the same feat was likely achieved in the six years between then and now. Never before have so many people been lifted out of poverty over such a brief period of time. (emphasis added)

The article makes the case that "the rise of globalization, the spread of capitalism and the improving quality of economic governance...together have enabled the developing world to begin converging on advanced economy incomes after centuries of divergence."

The authors go on to write:

The fight against poverty has long been a moral and strategic goal of Western governments. But the record of the last few years is likely a surprise to them. In their eyes, the fate of the world’s poor largely depended on forging progress on three fronts: debt relief, more aid and freer trade.

But lo and behold, these goals were formed during an era when economic growth in the developing world was around 1, maybe 2, percent per year. Since 2003, developing world economy's have broken onto the stage of global trade, investment, and productivity, and they've been growing at around 5 percent.

Now that's some great news we've heard nothing about.

Here's the news in graph form:

h/t to Don Eberly for sending the article.