The Great Surge: The Ascent of the Developing World

About this book

The untold story of the global poor today: A distinguished expert and advisor to developing nations reveals how weve reduced poverty increased incomes improved health curbed violence and spread democracyand how to ensure the improvements continue. We live today at a time of great progress for the global poor. Never before have so many people in so many developing countries made so much progress. Most people believe the opposite: that with a few exceptions like China and India the majority of developing countries are hopelessly mired in deep poverty led by inept dictators and living with pervasive famine widespread disease constant violence and little hope for change. But a major transformation is underwayand has been for two decades now. Since the early 1990s more than 700 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty six million fewer children die every year from disease tens of millions more girls are in school millions more people have access to clean water and democracyoften fragile and imperfecthas become the norm in developing countries around the world. The Great Surge tells the remarkable story of this unprecedented economic social and political transformation. It shows how the end of the Cold War the development of new technologies globalization courageous local leadership and in some cases good fortune have combined to dramatically improve the fate of hundreds of millions of people in poor countries around the world. Most importantly The Great Surge reveals how we can fight the changing tides of climate change resource demand economic and political mismanagement and demographic pressures to accelerate the political economic and social development that has been helping the poorest of the poor around the world.