Severely malnourished Sadiki Basilaki, 9, receives a mug of milk at a catholic mission feeding center in Rutshuru, 50 miles north of Goma in eastern Congo, Nov. 13, 2008. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)
The world's biggest problem: Our hungry planet
Global hunger just got worse. What can the dismal science do?
BOSTON — Economics is often called — only half-jokingly — the dismal science.
As anyone who's struggled to grasp concepts like agency costs, horizontal equity or the Laffer curve knows, the science can be pretty dismal.
That's especially true when considering the economic aspects of global hunger, where the news is bad and getting worse.
According to the United Nations the number of hungry people this year reached 1.02 billion. That's one in six human beings. Moreover, that figure has been growing each year for more than a decade, while the ravages of the global economic crisis are making matters worse in nearly every corner of the world.
So what's the root of the problem? There are many, of course — endemic poverty, conflict, climate change, bad governance and on and on. But according to the U.N.'s chief food honcho Jacques Diouf, the biggest factor is an economic one: under-investment in agriculture and rural development.
"If people go hungry today it is not because the world is not producing enough food but because it is not produced in the countries where 70 percent of the world's poor live and whose livelihoods depend on farming activities," Diouf said at a U.N. food conference in Geneva. "The challenge is not only to ensure food security for the one billion hungry people today, which is certainly an enormous task, but also to be able to feed a world population that is expected to reach 9.1 billion in 2050," he said.
So what can the dismal science do?
At its heart economics is about finding the most efficient allocation of resources — money, time, capital equipment, employees and all the other complex and interrelated factors that go into providing everything from Boeing airplanes, to Maytag washing machines, to Chinese foot massages, Xbox games, Mini Coopers and food staples like rice, potatoes and corn.
If one reads this article
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/india/090811/selling-india-pale-ale-i... he will come across this reference
"....India's first two brew pubs have opened in Gurgaon — a mushrooming forest of malls and high rises just outside Delhi..."
The city Gurgaon is in the same state of Haryana, which has been talked about in the video. A live example of poverty flourishing in the backyard of an ostentatious city.
Hunger is a symptom of the real problem, which is gross overpopulation of the planet. Nobody wants to talk about that, much less figure out how to reduce the population except by the classic means of war and disease.
well I think its enough about talkin about how many countries are starving and doin without when the United States has billionaires just relaxin in Mansions when they can easily give a million to a town help build homes little stores Why cant the United States collide with other countries and donate food EVERY MONTH ....JUST ENOUGH TO GET THE STARVING FAMILIES.Figure out how to help these people with maybe start making apartment buildings grocery stores ..I dont know soo many ideas in my head and im sure its ran in all these peoples mind that has or had money to help theses people and decided not to help because greed is the only thing people think about...............
Love;
Are you serious? They can "easily" give a million? And why is it only rich americans that you say "must" do this? The richest people live in the Middle East, what do they do to help humanity? NOTHING!! Americans already give more to world aid than ALL OTHER UN contries combined! The biggest waste of money is to just give it to the poor. You cant just write a check and watch it magically work to feed all these hungry people. Its more than just money. Its culture and government (or lack of) that are the problem. This is a problem that is never going to go away.... This is the way things have been since the begining of existance and will continue to be until the end of existance. It is an unfortunate reality but reality none the less. What are you doing to help the hungry? How many things do you own that you dont need? Stop pointing your finger at americans and rich people and do something about it yourself.
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