No, I am not referring to money.
The Next Billion (http://www.nextbillion.net/) refers to the effort to lift a billion people out of poverty over the next 20 years. The idea comes out of the notion that over the last 20 years approximately 500 million people around the world have been lifted out of poverty. That sounds great til you remember that that number still leaves about 4 billion people living on $3/day or less.
The Next Billion concept comes out of some thinking at the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org).
Basically, the idea of people involved in the NextBillion effort is to use market ideas, technology and knowledge of international development practice to eradicate poverty by reaching the “next billion” on the income scale and helping them rise out of poverty.
I raise this because I want to remind GMDers that economic growth is not only about big corporations destroying the world and a big box store on every corner. It is about empowering people to improve their lives and maybe move up from $3 dollars a day to $10 dollars a day. A modest improvement, but one that can have profoundly positive impacts on health, nutrition, education and child welfare.
We need to remember that growth isn’t just about us living in Vermont, it is about the 67% of the world’s population that lives on a daily wage that won’t even pay for a latte at a coffee shop. It is about empowering men and women to build a better future for themselves.