Global Economic Projections

Also at TCS, James Peron looks at the new World Bank projections for global economic growth, and the results are actually pretty encouraging. The global economy is expected to double by 2030, and the developing world's share of that output is likely to reach 50% by that time. The best news of all: the world's poor will benefit greatly.

""The number of people living on less than $1 a day [in constant dollars] could be cut in half, from 1.1 billion now to 550 million in 2030." And the number living on less than $2 per day will decline by an estimated 800 million."

The ranks of the "global middle class" are expected to raise as well, up to 1.2 billion people. Developing nations will continue to converge with more developed nations, and the situation could be even more rosy - these scenarios are the low to middle of the road projections, the optimistic projections show a decline of people living in poverty from today's 20% to around 4%, with incomes 45% higher than today.