A fall to cheer

摘要

The past four years have seen the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and the biggest food-price increases since the 1970s. That must surely have swollen the ranks of the poor. Wrong. The best estimates for global poverty come from the World Bank's De velopment Research Group, which has just updated from 2005 its figures for those liv ing in absolute poverty (not be confused with the relative measure commonly used in rich countries).