Description
Book SynopsisWhy does poverty persist? A critical, but so far ignored, part of the answer lies in the fact that poverty is regularly created. Large numbers of people are escaping poverty, but large numbers are concurrently falling into chronic poverty. This book presents the first large-scale examination of the reasons why people fall into poverty and how they escape it in diverse contexts. Drawing upon personal interviews with 35,000 households in different parts of India, Kenya, Uganda, Peru, and the United States, it takes you on an illustrative journey, filled with facts, analyses, and the life stories of people who fell into abject poverty and others who managed to escape their seemingly predetermined fates. Letting a farmhand''s son or daughter remain a farmhand, even though he or she is potentially the next Einstein, is a tragedy that poor people witness time after time. Remedying this situation is crucial for making poverty history. This book addresses how equal opportunity can be promoted
Trade Review[The book] incorporates ideas from both political theory and economics, but is much more engaged and practical than abstract approaches to conceptions of poverty or fiddling with numbers and metrics. Krishna also gives a human face to his account by including some short examples of individual life stories. One Illness Away offers a revealing perspective on poverty. It should have relevance and appeal to a broad audience, not just workers in development, economists, and other specialists. * Danny Yee, Law and Economics Review *
Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Refilling the Pool of Poverty ; 2. Poverty Flows ; 3. The Rising-Falling Tide ; 4. Reasons for Descent: The Health Poverty Trap ; 5. Reasons for Escape: Diversification and Agriculture ; 6. Connecting Capability with Opportunity: Investing in Information ; 7. A Two-Pronged Strategy: Protection and Opportunity ; Appendix: Measuring Poverty: Testing Stages-of-Progress
