Marian L. Tupy argues that free enterprise is the best cure for poverty:
According to the World Bank, global poverty is declining rapidly. In 1981, 70 percent of people in poor countries lived on less than $2 a day, while 42 percent survived on less than $1 a day. Today, 43 percent live on less than $2 a day, while 14 percent survive on less than $1. “Poverty reduction of this magnitude is unparalleled in history,” wrote Brookings Institution researchers Laurence Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz in a recent paper. “Never before have so many people been lifted out of poverty over such a brief period of time.”
Read more at Bono: Only Capitalism Can End Poverty | Cato @ Liberty.
I assume the figures are adjusted for loss in purchasing power between 1981 and today. Surely loss of purchasing power varies significantly by country. How might this be accounted for? It might be that Asia has made great progress while Africa has not. Sometimes averages can mask important variations. This is is just a thought and not a thesis.