The Lie of Global Prosperity: How Neoliberals Distort Data to Mask Poverty and Exploitation

121 Pages·2019·2.839 MB·English

by  Seth Donnelly

THE LIE OF GLOBAL PROSPERITY

The Lie
of Global
Prosperity
How Neoliberals Distort Data to Mask
Poverty and Exploitation
by SETH DONNELLY
MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS
New York
Copyright © 2019 Seth Donnelly
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Donnelly, Seth, author.
Title: The lie of global prosperity : how neoliberals distort data to mask
poverty and exploitation / by Seth Donnelly.
Description: New York : Monthly Review Press, [2019] | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2019028697 (print) |
LCCN 2019028698 (ebook) | ISBN
9781583677650 (paperback) | ISBN 9781583677667 (cloth) | ISBN
9781583677674 (ebook) | ISBN 9781583677681 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: Poverty—Developing countries. | Neoliberalism. |
Capitalism—Moral and ethical aspects.
Classification: LCC HC59.72.P6 D66 2020 (print) | LCC HC59.72.P6 (ebook)
| DDC 339.4/6091724—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028697
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028698
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Contents
Preface | 7
Introduction: A New Millennium? | 11
PART ONE: GLOBAL POVERTY TODAY
1. Problems with the World Bank’s Poverty Metric | 23
2. Other Metrics and Dimensions of Global Poverty | 46
Conclusion to Part One | 59
PART TWO: GOING BEYOND STATISTICS TO
THE DYNAMICS OF IMPERIALISM
3. Causes and Consequences of the Neoliberal
Phase of Imperialism | 65
4. Claim No Easy Victories, Tell No Lies | 97
Notes | 102
Index | 114
Dedicated to my father, who stimulated my interest in global
economics, introduced me to Monthly Review, and inspired me
—and still does—to work for revolution
In systems organized upside down, when the economy grows,
social injustice grows with it.—EDUARDO GALEANO,
OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA
Preface
An ew era has been proclaimed. In recent years, we have seen
one public figure after another come forward to announce a
dramatic decline in global poverty. These heralds of a new age
include Bill Gates, the World Bank, and a host of anonymous writers
at The Economist. All bring the good tidings that capitalism—stoked
by information technology and spread globally since the end of the
Cold War—has ushered in a new epoch of shared human prosperity.
The message bearers do not agree about everything: some cleave to
neoliberal doctrine whereas others argue for a more statist, regulated
economy. Yet all concur that current-day capitalism has spawned a
new era of human redemption, and all believe that it combines eco-
nomic development with a systematic reduction in poverty.
It would all be wonderful, if only it were true. In fact, capitalism in
our time continues to produce distorted and stagnated development,
and it goes on grinding down the majority of people. Yet the capitalist
class and its allies work hard to make us think otherwise. They do so
by spinning a web of spurious data, bad arguments, and sometimes
outright lies. It’s this class-based project, expressed in obscurantist
claims about global prosperity, that this short book aims to debunk.
The purpose is to expose the epidemic of poverty that is the real and
persistent fruit of capitalist development.
8 THE LIE OF GLOBAL PROSPERITY
In the arguments deployed here, I have tried to synthesize the
findings of researchers from different fields into a work of popular
education. The book’s main audience is revolutionary activists and
participants in social movements. In addition to bringing together
previously disparate pieces of evidence, I have attempted to commu-
nicate the information in a clear, accessible manner. Along the way,
I illustrate many of the more abstract findings with examples taken
from my own experience as an activist.
In reporting on poverty in Third World countries (often called
today the Global South), I try to show how global imperialist capi-
talism systematically produces poverty and subsequently attempts
to cover up that crime with bad data and misleading arguments.
The book does not directly address the interlocking forms of
domination—national oppression, white supremacy, patriarchy,
homophobia, xenophobia, ecocide, and others—that are key aspects
of the same capitalist system. Nor does it deal with the grassroots
and labor struggles that spring up throughout the world, resisting
oppression and sometimes fighting to uproot exploitation once and
for all. The methodological decision to leave such struggles outside
the book’s framework is not meant to discount their importance.
On the contrary, the hope of overcoming global poverty depends on
inter-movement solidarity and consolidating our collective capaci-
ties across borders into a revolutionary project. As Audre Lord
declared some forty years ago, “The master’s tools will never dis-
mantle the master’s house.”
Note: The bulk of the research for this book was done between
2016 and 2017 in response to trumpeting by the World Bank and
neoliberal trendsetters such as Bill Gates that global poverty had been
dramatically reduced and that the corresponding United Nations
Millennial Development Goal on poverty reduction had been suc-
cessfully achieved in 2015. As such, this book does not address more
recent developments, such as Trump’s international economic poli-
cies, and the most recent data collected by international institutions.
However, these more recent policies and data will not alter the funda-
mental findings presented here.
PREFACE 9
Many people have influenced my work in this book. Family,
friends, and activists in social movements in which I have partici-
pated are all fundamental sources of inspiration. I also owe special
thanks to John Bellamy Foster for initially encouraging this research,
to Michael Yates and Chris Gilbert for their amazing editorial work,
and to Martin Paddio and Susie Day at Monthly Review Press for
helping shape and publicize this book. Finally, I owe thanks to Erin
Clermont for her excellent copy editing.