The world’s poorest countries have experienced a brutal decade
Why has development ground to a halt?
There are now a billion fewer people subsisting on less than $2.15 a day than in 2000. Each year since the turn of the millennium, a cast of aid workers, bureaucrats and philanthropists, who often claim credit for this extraordinary plunge in extreme poverty, has met on the sidelines of the UN’s General Assembly to celebrate progress in their catchphrase-cum-targets of “sustainable development goals”. When on September 22nd the latest gathering begins in New York, many will once again be feeling pleased with themselves.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “End of the road”
Finance & economics September 21st 2024
- The world’s poorest countries have experienced a brutal decade
- Why the Federal Reserve has gambled on a big interest-rate cut
- The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts may disappoint investors
- How China’s communists fell in love with privatisation
- European regulators are about to become more political
- What the history of money tells you about crypto’s future
From the September 21st 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Germany’s economy goes from bad to worse
Things may look brighter next year, but the relief will be short-lived
An economics Nobel for work on why nations succeed and fail
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson tackled the most important question of all
Why investors should still avoid Chinese stocks
The debate about “uninvestibility” obscures something important
China’s property crisis claims more victims: companies
Unsold homes are contributing to a balance-sheet recession
Europe’s green trade restrictions are infuriating poor countries
Only the poorest can expect help to cushion the blow
How America learned to love tariffs
Protectionism hasn’t been this respectable for decades