Blog Action Day 08: Sådan bekæmpes fattigdom

Den mest effektive måde at bekæmpe fattigdom på er globaliseringen. Gennem frihandel får de fattige i verden mulighed for at skabe sig en bedre fremtid. Det er derfor vigtigt at kæmpe for at alle lande i verden fjerner handelshindringer og der er de nødvendige institutioner til stede som sikrer den private ejendomsret.

Dette års nobelprisvinder i økonomi, Paul Krugman, har skrevet et glimrende essay om emnet. In praise of cheap labor. Her i skriver han, hvordan frihandel gør verdens fattige bedre stillet, fordi et dårligt betalt job er en bedre skæbne end intet job.

Johan Norberg har skrevet bogen In defense of global capitalism. Bogen viser hvordan globaliseringen gør alle rigere. Gennem liberale åbne markedsøkonomier kan verdens lande gennem frihandel udnytte sine komparative fordele. Gennem handel skabes velstand til alles fordel. og dermed bekæmpes fattigdom.

Nedenstående er et uddrag hentet fra JohanNorberg.net. How globalization conquers poverty:

But when we look at the poor countries with good institutions, and which are open to trade, we see that they are making rapid progress, much faster than the wealthy countries. A classic study by Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner of 117 countries in the 1970s and 1980s showed that open-developing countries had an annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, compared with 0.7 per cent in closed-developing countries and 2.3 percent in open industrialized countries. A recent World Bank report concluded that 24 developing countries with a total population of 3 billion are integrating into the global economy more quickly than ever. Their growth per capita has also increased from 1 per cent in the 1960s to 5 per cent in the 1990s (compared to a rich country growth of 1.9 per cent). At the present rate, the average citizen in these developing countries will see her income doubled in less than 15 years.