The MDGS

I quote from the article in The Economist from which the above graphs are drawn: The most important goal of the Millennium Development Goals

was to halve, by 2015, the share of people globally living on under $1.25 a day, which was 36% in 1990. Most progress was in China, where the proportion fell from 60% in 1990 to 12% in 2010. Other regions missed their target. In South Asia it fell from 51% to 30%. In Sub-Saharan Africa it went from 56% to 48%. Still, more than 700m people struggled out of extreme poverty in that period.

I have long wondered about the MDGs. Do you think China was developing economically in order to meet a goal set by the United Nations? If so, ho come it didn't quit its economic growth and the reduction of poverty when it had reached 30% living in extreme poverty? Why didn't Africa do better if the MDGs were all that iportant?

On the other hand, I think the MDGs were important in helping some development agencies set priorities, perhaps including the international development banks like the World Bank.