Tag: poverty

Mexico’s poverty conundrum

Apr 11, 2013 1:17am by beyondbrics

Share this on

Viene-vienes at work

By Ron Buchanan and Pan Kwan Yuk

They call them the “viene-vienes”. In cities throughout Mexico, red rags in their hands, they wave down motorists into available parking spaces and receive modest tips for their trouble in “looking after the cars”.

Their name comes from their shouts of invitation to their clients: “Viene! Viene!” – “Come on! Come on!”.

The “viene-viene” men occupy one segment of Mexico’s vast informal economy. And their ubiquity is a glaring reminder that – for all the praises that are being lavished on the country’s economic resurgence – poverty remains an obstacle to Mexico’s ability to unlock its full economic potential. Continue reading »

Tags: Mexico economy, Mexico wages, poverty Posted in LatAm, Mexico | Permalink

S African billionaire signs up to Buffett philanthropy pledge

Jan 30, 2013 5:57pm by Andrew Bowman

Share this on

“How to spend it?” is the question which bothers many a billionaire (one suspects), but an increasing number are opting to give it away instead. South Africa’s richest black man, Patrice Motsepe, has joined the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in opting to give away a good deal of his money to the cause of philanthropy. Continue reading »

Tags: Patrice Motsepe, philanthropy, poverty Posted in Africa, South Africa | Permalink

The Chinese lottery: a tax on hope

Jan 23, 2013 7:34am by Simon Rabinovitch

Share this on

Critics of lotteries the world over often describe them as taxes on the poor, and for good reason. From the US to Spain, lower-income citizens are the biggest buyers of lottery tickets, and, as a group, they will lose at least 35 per cent of what they spend.

In China, though, it is more accurate to describe the lottery as a tax on hope. Those buying tickets tend to earn more than average, but they have run into the chasm that is China’s wealth gap and see the lottery as their best bridge across it. Continue reading »

Tags: China, economy, inequality, poverty Posted in China | Permalink

Guest post: the IFC, poverty and the private sector

Dec 31, 2012 2:03pm by beyondbrics

Share this on

By Jin-Yong Cai of the International Finance Corporation

Four years after the global financial crisis struck, the world still faces major economic challenges. Shocks from Europe, Asia or the US could undermine recoveries in many developing countries, hurting the poor the most. Continue reading »

Tags: guest post, IFC, poverty Posted in Global | Permalink

Chilean poverty data controversy reveals tough truths about country’s growth

Sep 3, 2012 11:36pm by Jude Webber

Share this on

Chileans are, in many ways, as unlike their next-door-neighbours, the Argentines, as it is possible to be. But allegations that Santiago is massaging official poverty data sound stomach-sinkingly familiar to anyone used to Buenos Aires. Continue reading »

Tags: ECLAC, poverty, Sebastián Piñera Posted in Chile, LatAm | Permalink

Colombia: weightlifting classes?

Aug 1, 2012 3:58pm by Andres Schipani

Share this on

In real life, as in the Olympic Games, Colombians seem to be aiming for the second step of the podium. This week, as Colombian weightlifter Oscar Albeiro Figueroa stepped up for a silver medal, comes fresh confirmation that more and more Colombians are being lifted from poverty into the middle class.

According to a study conducted at the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia’s middle class doubled in the past ten years, from 15 per cent of the population in 2002 to 30 per cent in 2012. Continue reading »

Tags: Colombia economy, poverty, society Posted in Colombia, LatAm | Permalink

Challenges ahead for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry

Jul 24, 2012 3:21pm by Andrew Bowman

Share this on

Africa’s oil and gas industry has gained a lot of new players in recent times, but Nigeria remains by far the biggest producer on the continent. Pumping oil for over 50 years, it still has three times more in reserves than its nearest rival Angola. Its gas reserves could supply the EU for 11 years. However, as a new FT Special Report shows, a range of problems prevent Nigeria realising the potential of these endowments. Continue reading »

Tags: Africa oil and gas, corruption, environment, Niger Delta, Nigeria economy, oil & gas, poverty Posted in Africa, Nigeria | Permalink

Splashing out: India’s new toilet outcry

Jun 8, 2012 1:39pm by Neil Munshi

Share this on

For the second time in just over a month, India has been hit with a toilet scandal – but instead of a vast network of bureaucrats and middlemen filching over a billion dollars across the country, this one involves an elite economic policy arm of the government.

India’s Planning Commission is no stranger to controversy – last year, it came up with a novel approach to reducing the number of poor people in India: it lowered the poverty line to Rs26 (47 cents) a day.

This week it emerged that the folks determining who is poor enough to qualify for government subsidies are enjoying their own sort of government largesse, not with fancy cars or large mansions, but with toilets – $54,000 worth to be exact. Continue reading »

Tags: India politics, India scandal, poverty, sanitation Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

Chile: failing to deliver on poverty?

May 28, 2012 10:31pm by Jude Webber

Share this on

Eradicating poverty is one of the most ambitious goals of Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president. But it’s harder than it looks and it’s especially tough for a president with the end of his presidency in sight and his popularity in the doldrums. Continue reading »

Tags: Chile politics, poverty Posted in Chile, LatAm | Permalink

India tackles poverty by tinkering with the numbers

Mar 20, 2012 10:22am by Neil Munshi

Share this on

This article has been corrected – see update at the end.

To all those Indians living on more than 57 cents a day: Congratulations! You’re not poor! That was the message from the Indian Planning Commission’s latest survey of poverty in the country, which revealed that the population living below the poverty line had been cut from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10 – taking 62.5m people out of poverty. Quite an achievement!

But then shifting the equivalent of the population of the UK above the poverty line isn’t that hard if you do if you keep it incredibly low. Continue reading »

Tags: poverty Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

Coal India’s low prices: some method to the madness?

Mar 15, 2012 5:31pm by Neil Munshi

Share this on

The Children’s Investment Fund wants to raise electricity bills for the 67 per cent of Indians with access to electricity.

Not that TCI doesn’t have a good reason. Coal India, the 90 per cent state-owned giant, sells coal at prices 40 to 70 per cent lower than international ones, and TCI is the company’s biggest minority shareholder. Continue reading »

Tags: Coal India, poverty, The Children's Investment Fund Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

Nigeria: growing richer, growing poorer

Mar 15, 2012 1:34pm by Xan Rice

Share this on

Good news from Nigeria, if growth is your thing. The economy grew by 7.68 per cent in the last quarter of 2011, according to the national bureau of statistics. Of the 46 countries that have published Q4 GDP figures to date, only two, Mongolia and China, reported higher growth, says the NBS report. It concluded that Africa’s most populous country remains on track to be among the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.

So how do ordinary Nigerians feel about this? Perplexed, most likely. For while the economy is growing, so too is poverty. Continue reading »

Tags: consumption, Nigeria economy, poverty Posted in Africa, Nigeria | Permalink

World Bank: poverty falling everywhere

Mar 1, 2012 3:15pm by Keyur Patel

Share this on

Could the UN have met its first Millennium Development Goal – to halve extreme poverty between 1990 and 2015 – five years early?

The World bank thinks so. In an uplifting report released on Wednesday, it revealed that the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day declined in every region of the developing world between 2005 and 2008, according to more than 850 houshold surveys. What’s more, in spite of global food, fuel and financial crises, that trend continued post-2008 – and preliminary surveys for 2010 show that the number of people in extreme poverty was less than half that of 1990. Continue reading »

Tags: poverty, World Bank Posted in Global | Permalink

Malnutrition: why EMs should care

Feb 17, 2012 10:55pm by Anjli Raval

Share this on

Discussion on emerging market growth usually centres on how factors such as inflation, industrial production or even corruption can affect the economies of these countries.

However, a report released this week offers a timely reminder at how malnutrition, an obvious symptom of poverty, is eroding the economic prospects of developing nations, from India and Bangladesh to Peru and Nigeria, which are only just recovering after the fall-out of the financial crisis. Continue reading »

Tags: food prices, health, Malnutrition, poverty Posted in Global | Permalink

Nigeria: investment vs inequality

Feb 13, 2012 1:04pm by Keyur Patel

Share this on

While Nigeria’s government powers ahead on its path to reform, large swathes of the population are getting left behind.

On Sunday, the FT reported that electricity tariffs in Nigeria were set to increase by up to 88 per cent, with most customers seeing a 50 per cent hike in their bills. A survey released on Monday, meanwhile, finds that the proportion of Nigerians living in absolute poverty rose to 60.9 per cent in 2010 – in spite of strong growth in Africa’s most populous country. Continue reading »

Tags: electricity, infrastructure, poverty Posted in Africa, Nigeria | Permalink

Older entries

beyondbrics

Tag: poverty

Mexico’s poverty conundrum

S African billionaire signs up to Buffett philanthropy pledge

The Chinese lottery: a tax on hope

Guest post: the IFC, poverty and the private sector

Chilean poverty data controversy reveals tough truths about country’s growth

Colombia: weightlifting classes?

Challenges ahead for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry

Splashing out: India’s new toilet outcry

Chile: failing to deliver on poverty?

India tackles poverty by tinkering with the numbers

Coal India’s low prices: some method to the madness?

Nigeria: growing richer, growing poorer

World Bank: poverty falling everywhere

Malnutrition: why EMs should care

Nigeria: investment vs inequality

Global equities macromap

Most popular posts

Number of the day

Most commented

beyondbrics

The emerging markets hub

BB registration

BB shortcuts

beyondbrics team

Regional teams:

Emerging markets data

Archive

What we’re writing about

What we’re reading