Les Jones

Economics > Macleans on Live Earth

Macleans:

Naming the world's greatest crisis is a popular pastime these days. At this month's Live Earth concerts a variety of experts -- punk rockers, academics and politicians among them -- argued earnestly that "climate change is the No. 1 problem facing humanity." That's one opinion. We suspect that many other residents of Earth might disagree. Among them the 980 million people living on less than $1 per day. The prospect of starvation tomorrow tends to put worries that the oceans may rise in the next 2,000 years into perspective.

Of India and China:

The fact that these two countries have experienced the best records in tackling poverty is not mere chance. These Third World countries' improvements coincide exactly with their participation in the global marketplace and their acceptance of First World tools of development. We may have many complaints with China in particular, on political and diplomatic issues, but that country's acceptance of trade, entrepreneurship and private capital as a means to feed the masses has been an unquestioned triumph.

Then again, perhaps that explains the curious reluctance to recognize this success. India and China have largely tackled poverty without the need for fundraising concerts, celebrity pleadings or high-minded international aid packages; Africa, on the other hand, continues to founder despite all such attention.