Does $1 capture the nature of poverty?

[dante6491]

Also point out the difference between absolute and relative poverty. $1 can stretch quite far in Africa.

To be in poverty in the UK you have to have a household income of below 40% of GDP, is that the same for other countries? Also means you could just be in poverty here but not in a country with a marginally lower GDP.

 

[Dynix]

Wish my Uni had 'penalty rates'! If you're so much a second late after 3.30pm on the day of hand-in then it's a fail for the assignment and fail for the module (you need something like 30% for each 'component' (i.e. exam+written assignment) to pass the module).

Can't really help, but best of luck!

 

[ac1d1ty]

I take it that it would be wise to get involved in the area of things other than economics? Eg earning a $ a day could almost be alright but for the AK toting bandits who occasionally kill for fun?


Ah as luck would have it the dictionary of human geography has been returned today. Off to go and hunt for it.

 

[Amp34]

At my old uni, if you're so much as a second late it's an instant fail.

Yup, if you hand it in late you get a maximum mark of 40%... A mate of mine handed his dissertation in 2 minutes before the deadline... Rather him than me!

 

[ac1d1ty]

Well i've found the dictionary. I was expecting it to be a moderate sized affair not this behemoth book.

The definition for poverty alone is 2 pages of dense writing.


Great stuff to read, shame I have to do an essay on it.

 

[HAz]

man uni sounds boring as ****, so glad i didnt waste my money on it and stuck to my guns on finding my dream job!

Gl on it tho, must be so crap!

 

[ac1d1ty]

man uni sounds boring as ****, so glad i didnt waste my money on it and stuck to my guns on finding my dream job!

Gl on it tho, must be so crap!

Personally I can't complain that much. The work load is pretty lax (i've just been an exceptionally lazy sod), you have a reason to hang around 18-24yr old girls and get drunk with them , and you don't have to work.

You also get to increase your knowledge and hopefully employability.

That saying, if you found your dream job, then more power to your good self. Me personally? I don't have a clue what I want to do.

 

[Andelusion]

Lucky sod.

Admit it, you'd only end up bumming around tomorrow anyway and still doing it in 24 hours

 

[Energize]

Our uni gives a 10% penalty if one week late.

 

[digipeep]

Honestly why do they send these people to University when all they will end up doing is flipping burgers with a **** degree.

 

[Strife212]

At mine its

•Coursework handed in before 15.00 hours on date due - No penalty
•After 15.00 hours but before 17.00 hours on due date - 5 marks deducted
•Before 17.00 on the day following the due date - 10 marks deducted
•Before 17.00 hours on either 2nd or 3rd day after due date - 20 marks deducted
•After 17.00 hours on 3rd day after due date - All marks deducted

(Marks out of 100)

So if you have some worthless work you threw together the night before you're better off just spending the day improving it tbh.

Harsh instant fails for 1 second late...

 

[ac1d1ty]

Honestly why do they send these people to University when all they will end up doing is flipping burgers with a **** degree.

They send people to university? Pretty sure that i'm paying for it, without a grant and the meagrest of loans.

And I wouldn't classify my uni as ****

 

[4p]

I have to write a 1500 word essay on the succession of vertabreates (sp lmao) and its worth.....

5.5%

 

[Gackt]

No, it doesn't. The whole $1-a-day approach is a very interesting way of allowing people to feel like they're doing something without actually solving the real issues of poverty. These kinds of solutions actually help to propagate the kinds of conditions that people live in. There is a severe disparity between our 'common' wealth and their 'actual' wealth.

It is not only a way to keep a large portion of people 'down', but it also appeases our rationality. I.e. It is not logical to allow people to suffer in poverty, especially when we have the resources available to stop it right now, yet because the people with the power to do so don't wish to part with their 'well-earned wealth', they'll make it seem like we do something.

It's like putting a plaster on an infected wound - you need to sort out the cause of the infection, otherwise you're just going to prolong the recovery process, perhaps causing greater harm.

(Edit: Forgive the rant, but the existence of poverty is something that greatly fascinates me, and also saddens me that we claim to be so enlightened yet such conditions exist.)

 

[ac1d1ty]

No, it doesn't. The whole $1-a-day approach is a very interesting way of allowing people to feel like they're doing something without actually solving the real issues of poverty. These kinds of solutions actually help to propagate the kinds of conditions that people live in. There is a severe disparity between our 'common' wealth and their 'actual' wealth.

It is not only a way to keep a large portion of people 'down', but it also appeases our rationality. I.e. It is not logical to allow people to suffer in poverty, especially when we have the resources available to stop it right now, yet because the people with the power to do so don't wish to part with their 'well-earned wealth', they'll make it seem like we do something.

It's like putting a plaster on an infected wound - you need to sort out the cause of the infection, otherwise you're just going to prolong the recovery process, perhaps causing greater harm.

(Edit: Forgive the rant, but the existence of poverty is something that greatly fascinates me, and also saddens me that we claim to be so enlightened yet such conditions exist.)

Please feel free to expound your theories and viewpoints, I'm definitely not offended, but intrigued.

Even in the tiny bit of reading i've done tonight, I can see that the whole thing appears to be a way of easing our mind. eg if we put it in a "civilised" currency, then it helps people automatically equate to our way of life eg the security and general lawfulness that we are used to.


hmmm

 

[Nix]

ac1d1ty, the DoHG is a fantastic book. Don't knock it.

Incidently, you might also find this one handy:

Potter, R.B. Binns, T. Elliot, J.A. and Smith, D. (2004) Geographies of Development, Pearson, London.

 

[danza]

A mate of mine handed his dissertation in 2 minutes before the deadline... Rather him than me!

You've got to be pretty damn sure you're working to the same clock the uni is to have the balls to try to pull that off!

 

[jas72]

5 million people die each year due to not having fresh drinking water. Has much more of an impact at 1$ a day.

$1 a day might not be much but how much does the people's basic foodstuffs cost? Do most people still farm their own land? Does bartering go on in the country? However the fact that so many die due to something I for one take for granted makes me think!

 

[Sukh]

Do you think the $1-a-day poverty approach adequately captures the nature of poverty in developing countries? Explain.[/B]


Any good sources would be greatly received.

Mate, is this for Developement Economics or something?

If so, go to the library and pick up A.P. Thirwall - Development Economics, Chapter 2/3 on PPP and Real Exchange Rates.

It details why comparison made on the $1 a day is inherently floored.

 

[Killerkebab]

You've got to be pretty damn sure you're working to the same clock the uni is to have the balls to try to pull that off!

I'm going to assume his mate thought he was 10 mins or something ahead... and when he handed it in and saw the timestamp on his receipt that says 3.28, counted his lucky stars