Why is $1.90 a day still the standard for ‘extreme poverty’, even though everyone knows the bar is set far too low? And if it’s a legitimate standard, why don’t we use it in the West? Good questions from Jason Hickel.
Are hasty post-Brexit trade deals with the UK undermining regional trade in Africa? Observers of the freshly inked deal with Kenya are watching carefully, says the FT.
In case you missed it yesterday, please sign this petition to parliament to encourage a shift to a Wellbeing Economy.
Crazy about Eggs is a new egg brand from the Netherlands that is committed to full transparency, including live cameras on their chicken farms.
An unusual dataset that I came across online this week – people have been recording the first cherry blossoms in Kyoto for over a thousand years, and while there is plenty of variation, there is no discernible trend until you hit the era of climate change.
As it’s the Easter holidays, I’ll be trying not to do too much work next week. I’ll be reading fiction and paying less attention to the blog, so apologies if comments go unanswered for a bit.
Book review: Post Growth, by Tim Jackson
Tim Jackson’s Prosperity Without Growth is one of the most influential books on the postgrowth bookshelf, written in the wake of the financial crisis and clearly articulating the limits of economic growth as a measure of success. This book also comes in the wake of crisis, a time when “alongside an uncomfortable reminder of what…
What are green jobs anyway?
‘Green jobs’ is a phrase that’s hard to escape. It’s at the heart of many countries’ plans for a ‘green recovery’, or the green new deal, or green growth. And rightly so – one of the key elements of the transition to a sustainable economy is the switch from jobs that destroy the natural world…
Banking on climate chaos
Today is a day of action against the banking industry for its role in continuing to fund fossil fuels. The challenge of the global climate crisis is well understood, but the allure of fossil fuels remains strong. The projects are just so big and so profitable. Banks and investors continue to pump money into new…
The Earthbound Report 
The $1.90 extreme poverty standard is on indicator used for analysis, to measure progress especially over time. It isn’t a end in itself. To change it would mean those comparisions over time would be more difficult. The decline in extreme poverty has been an awkward fact if you wish to portray the global economic system as failing the poorest so you can see why those with an aenda to do so would wish to disrupt that data. Jason Hinkel is internationally misrepresenting it and leaping into to calling it racist just shows the bad faith he is writing in.
Not surprising from Hinkel sadly.