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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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GOING FOR GROWTHFifty years ago, Korea was poorer than the Sudan. Its main export waswigs made from human hair. Today it is an industrial leader with aGDP per capita more than nine times greater than that of Sudan. 159 Interms of health, wealth, education, and expectations, the lives ofKoreans <strong>to</strong>day bear little resemblance <strong>to</strong> those of their grandparents.Elsewhere, Taiwan and Viet Nam have achieved the rare feat ofcombining high-speed growth with one of the fairest distributions ofincome in the world. China’s rise since the late 1980s has delivered thegreatest reduction in poverty ever recorded. 160 These extraordinarysuccess s<strong>to</strong>ries are his<strong>to</strong>rically unprecedented features of the modernera: all 12 cases of countries growing by more than 7 per cent a yearover a 25-year period have occurred since the Second World War. 161The extent and nature of economic growth is central <strong>to</strong> developmentand <strong>to</strong> the lives of poor people. 162 Put simply, countries that havereduced poverty have invariably had <strong>to</strong> grow <strong>to</strong> do so.Properly managed,growth in the market economy creates jobs, increases incomes, andgenerates tax revenues that effective states can invest in infrastructure,schools, and hospitals. Creating wealth is an inseparable part ofreducing poverty.Inequality determines how far growth benefits poor people: a 1 percent increase in per capita GDP can reduce income poverty by asmuch as 4 per cent or as little as 1 per cent. 163 Redistribution of wealthby means of land reform or progressive taxation can leave poor people179

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