Two Books on Globalisation & Poverty

Two books that I would recommend for those who interested in this subject are Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz and The End of Poverty – Economic Possibilities of our Time by Jeffrey Sachs.


'Globalization and its Discontents' Joseph Stiglitz

On Globalization and its Discontents, Joh Kendall writes in the Tasmanian Anglican (August 2003),

“It would be easy to regard the process of globalisation as incidental to Christians during their sojourn here, or as something inherently evil that we should have nothing to do with. However, from an alternative perspective, we can see that our involvement is compatible with Christ-centred living.

Jesus, during his time on Earth, had to contend with an uncaring Jewish hierarchy that had completely lost its meaning and purpose. The institutions of the day and the people running them had completely lost the plot, forgetting what God really cared about - justice, mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23).

So, how should we feel about globalisation? What does it mean and how is it affecting people around the world? How as Christians should we respond?

Globalization and its Discontents is a good place to start in seeking answers to these questions. As an insider, Stiglitz is well-able to expertly describe the international institutions that manage globalisation, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Bank.”

Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz. Penguin Books, 2003, 288pp



'The End of Poverty' Jeffrey Sachs

More than a billion people – about one in six people – live on less than US$1 a day. Another 2.7 billion struggle on US$2 or less. Yet this was not always the situation. Up until a few hundred years ago, the income polarity between the world’s richest and the world’s poorest was nowhere near the vast gap that it is today.

How did the world we live in end up the way it has? Is the eradication of extreme poverty ever going to be possible? Jeffrey Sachs, a well known economist, argues in his book that extreme poverty can be eradicated and suggests what can be done.

He argues that the IMF and World Bank’s monetary and economic conditions for Third World countries in curbing government spending, privatisation and liberalising their financial economies in exchange for much-needed loans and assistance have done more harm than good. Sachs also suggests that many of the problems are structural (that is, institutionally – be it the global market system, various government, financial or corporate institutions as well as the miserliness of First World countries. (For example, in 2003, the world’s richest countries on average only gave just 0.25% of their national income to development and aid assistance. This is less than 1% and not even close to the 0.7% target level pledged upon by many First World countries.)

The End of Poverty; Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey Sachs, Penguin Books, 2005, 396pp.

Photo by Kevin Carter

Photo: Kevin Carter

Taken in 1994 during the famine in Sudan, this photo is of a famine stricken child slowly crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometre away. A lone vulture is in the background waiting for the child to die before it can eat her. When this photo was published in the ‘New York Times’ a decade ago, it shocked the world then. Till this day, no-one knows what happened to the child - including the photographer, Kevin Carter, who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. Kevin Carter later committed suicide from depression.

The eternal destiny of the girl above is in the hands of God, who requires little from those to whom little has been given. But to those of us who have been given much, much will be demanded of us. (Luke 12:48)

“I was hungry and you did nothing” Jesus

I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.
I was homeless and you gave me no bed.
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes.
I was sick and in prison and you never visited.

I tell you the truth. Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do for me. - Jesus Matthew 25:42-43, 45

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Psalms 82:2

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:9

Remember those who are suffering, as though you were with them. When you serve the least of these, my brothers, you are serving Me. - Jesus