Economic Growth in the World Today

Nathan Smith over at Tech Central Station recently wrote an excellent piece on current economic growth around the world, Don't Look Now, But the World Economy is Booming (thanks to Stephen Hicks for the link). He begins by providing ample data, in the form of percentage growth rates, for various countries in recent years. This is an impressive array of data, and worth seeing alone. But then Smith goes on to give several reasons for this consistent growth: high commodity prices, demographic transitions in some countries, and the impact of the market-capitalist system in those countries where it has been relatively unimpeded. Along the way he makes an interesting distinction between what he calls "sweatshop" and "non-sweatshop" developing countries. And finally, he ends with some remarks about poverty, suggesting that if current trends continue, there is reason to be optimistic that extreme absolute poverty (as opposed to relative poverty like that found in the US and many European countries) may one day soon come to an end. Definitely an interesting read!