EPISODE · Apr 12, 2023 · 54 MIN
Is economic growth the magic wand for ending poverty? — Charles Kenny
from In Pursuit of Development · host Charles Kenny, Dan Banik
Charles Kenny is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC. He was previously at the World Bank, where his assignments included coordinating work on governance and anticorruption in infrastructure and natural resources, and managing investment and technical assistance projects covering telecommunications and the Internet. Charles has written several books, two of which we discussed in this conversation: Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding, and Our World, Better: Global Progress and What You Can Do About It. We also discussed a recent report, where Charles and his coauthor Zack Gehan created a set of scenarios for the shape of the global economy in 2050. While their forecast for richer countries is not very optimistic, what they found is largely positive for developing and middle-income nations. For example, the report finds that incomes per capita on the African continent could be 76% higher in 2050 than they were a few years ago, and in India incomes could jump 136%. Twitter: @charlesjkennyKey highlights:Introduction - 00:46Global development viewed from Washington - 02:52Reducing extreme poverty by 2050 - 07:15Economic growth, poverty and “degrowth” - 15:40What should the World Bank be doing more of? - 28:25The global public goods agenda - 39:00OECD DAC aid has lost its credibility - 43:30Combating pessimism and short-term thinking – 50:18 Host:Professor Dan Banik, University of Oslo, Twitter: @danbanik @GlobalDevPodApple Google Spotify YouTubeSubscribe: https://globaldevpod.substack.com/https://in-pursuit-of-development.simplecast.com/ Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/
What this episode covers
Dan Banik and Charles Kenny discuss reasons for optimism about the future of the global economy, the role of global public goods, World Bank reforms, and why Western aid is losing its credibility.
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Is economic growth the magic wand for ending poverty? — Charles Kenny
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