East, west and the gap between

摘要

A dollar a day or less is the World Bank's standard definition of poverty. But in the cold ex-communist countries of central and eastern Europe, where more is needed for heating and clothes, $2.15 is the poverty line. Many people have now climbed above that level: between 1998 and 2003 alone, more than 40m moved out of poverty; 60m remain. The best performer, Hungary, has almost no people living in poverty; in the worst, Tajikistan, the figure is 70%. But the bigger question is which post-communist countries stand a chance of catching up with the rich world within a generation, and which will stay poor for the rest of the century.