Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?

In 1994, China set the goal to eliminate “absolute poverty” in the country by the year 2000. Sure enough, the government has announced, they accomplished the goal — but only by changing the definition of the term. The United Nations and World Bank typically set a threshold of US$1 per day; China’s new definition is 635 yuan per year (US$77, or 21 cents per day). “At present, except for some 26 million disabled people or those living in extremely bad natural environment areas, we have succeeded in eliminating absolute poverty in the country,” says Gao Hongbin, a “leading poverty alleviation official,” because 21 cents a day provides “enough to eat and wear and to have a place to dwell.” The average income in rural China is 2,210 yuan per year, or about US$0.75 per day. (AFP) ...Surely “You’re not poor, you’re merely suffering from a change in political definitions” will make them feel better.