Wealth is the abundance of valuable
resources or valuable material possessions. This includes the core
meaning as held in the originating old English word weal, which is from
an Indo-European word stem.
What Is Poverty
Economists measure wealth and poverty in several ways. The three most
common measures are income, assets (meaning accumulated wealth in the
form of money, securities, and real estate), and socioeconomic metrics.
Measures in the last category go beyond financial data to account for
health, nutrition, infant mortality, sanitation, and other aspects of
human well being.
In this section, I will usually examine wealth and poverty in terms
of income. Data on income is readily available, reliable, and relevant,
especially in discussing poverty in the United States, where inherited
wealth is a minor factor and most people live on wages and salaries.
It’s useful to think of wealth and poverty in relation to one another. That’s because
income inequality is really the underlying issue in poverty, especially in developed nations.
EconoTalk
Income inequality refers to the differences in income between and among various groups of individuals and households in an economy.
Human social systems being what they are, it is often the differences
in wealth that make people feel rich or poor. In a Third World nation, a
family with indoor plumbing, running water, decent food and clothing,
and access to health care and education is quite well off. In the United
States, however, millions of people who have those things are
considered poor, because they have little else and those things
constitute the bare essentials in America. In this most developed of
economies, dwellings without plumbing are not legally fit for
habitation; public assistance programs, such as Food Stamps, Medicare,
and Medicaid, assure at least adequate levels of nutrition and health
care; and public education is compulsory for children.
Perhaps Webster’s Dictionary provides the most accurate definition of
poverty, at least in America: the state of one who lacks a
usual or socially acceptable amount
of money or material possessions (italics mine). This is not to
minimize the plight of the poor in America. It’s easily arguable that
poverty of any kind is unacceptable in a society with the riches and
opportunities of the United States. Also, many poor Americans do live
without adequate nutrition, shelter, and health care. This is especially
true of the rural poor, for instance in Appalachia, and for the
physically, emotionally, and mentally disabled poor. I am only pointing
out that poverty can be a relative condition.
For instance, the World Bank identifies areas of the world where
significant portions of the population live on less than $1 a day. These
are the poorest people in the world’s poorest regions, where food,
shelter, health care, and other necessities are in dangerously short
supply. Table 11.1 reveals the sad statistics.
Table 11.1 People Living on less than $1 a Day in 2000
| Region |
Total Population (millions) |
People Living on Less than $1 a Day (millions) |
Percent of Region’s Population |
| Latin American and Caribbean |
432 |
49 |
12 |
| West Asia and North Africa |
204 |
5 |
3 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
388 |
169 |
44 |
| South Asia |
1,266 |
515 |
41 |
| East and Southeast Asia |
1,726 |
320 |
19 |
Source: World Bank
Poverty is most widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,
where over 40 percent of the population lives on less than $365 a year.
All told, over 1 billion people in the world are in this situation,
which is considered absolute, rather than relative, poverty.
We will look at the economic issues of the developing world. But one
of the worst of its problems is the human suffering caused by persistent
poverty.
Excerpted from
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Economics
© 2003 by Tom Gorman. All rights reserved including the right of
reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with
Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.To order this book direct from the publisher, visit the
Penguin USA website or call 1-800-253-6476. You can also purchase this book at
Amazon.com and
Barnes & Noble.
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