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TODAY Wednesday 27 August 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: East Asia / Southeast Asia

Trust the Wall Street Journal to recognize an important story as we sail through the news equivalent of the horse latitudes. Today the top item in the Journal's front page "World-Wide" column summarizes a brief and otherwise inconspicuous article by Eduardo Lachia that appears in full eight pages later. Here is what Lachia writes, dateline Washington:

"The nations and territories of East Asia and Southeast Asia have reduced the ranks of their poor people by more than half over two decades, the World Bank said.

"Indeed... the region had accomplished a feat that was unprecedented in human history by shrinking the size of the population classified as poor to 345.7 million in 1995 from 716.8 million in 1975. The World Bank report, released yesterday, credited South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore with essentially eliminating absolute poverty as a national concern. It also handed out kudos to China and Indonesia for the extent to which they alleviated poverty among their huge populations."

You can argue that the alleviation of poverty is mismeasured by counting money, that traditional village life provides food, shelter, and security through mediums of exchange that pre-exist the cash economy. You can point out that the World Bank report also describes social anxieties about perceived increases in inequality. And, not mentioned in the article, you can also note that gains in incomes have often occasioned losses in natural capital and cultural patrimonies.

But we're talking about the number of people who spend a dollar a day or less. That number has declined in East Asia and Southeast Asia by 370 million over twenty-two years. That number has increased in South Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. It is a remarkable, even marvelous, development, and its further unfolding will determine the global environment of the 21st Century.

So imagine yourself as, say, an Indonesian government functionary. You live in the fifth most populous nation in the world. According to the World Bank report, the proportion of your fellow citizens living in poverty has declined by 83% since 1975. You are concerned about unrestrained development of the forests of Borneo and Sumatra, but you prize the foreign exchange created through logging and agriculture-for-export. You have oil to burn and oil to sell. You too read the Wall Street Journal and on page two today you notice that in the US, "consumer confidence" is back up, orders of durable goods are "healthy," and that "an increasing number of analysts" share the perception of "solid economic growth for the foreseeable future." You follow energy trends, and know that American consumption of fossil fuels is growing at a pace almost as fast as the growth in American GDP. Now imagine that you're asked by your Minister to join a round-table discussion on an appropriate Indonesian position at the upcoming Kyoto conference on climate change. A colleague reports that a young man from the US Embassy has just briefed him on the need of the American government (for domestic political reasons) to come up with treaty language that will bind equally North and South, rich and poor. Your colleague notes that the young man from the embassy says that American Senators will not ratify a treaty that appears to put the US at an economic disadvantage with its "Asian competitors."

You light a cigarette, smile.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE:

Donella Meadows and her friends in New Hampshire and Vermont have reached the stage in their cooperative housing project that they actually have to start thinking about building some buildings. Eavesdrop on a fascinating we-don't-know-how-this-will-turn-out real life adventure. Only in our free newsletter, The Grove. Subscribe today.

 

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8/14: Up in Flames
8/13: Environmentalism for Grown-Ups

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.