Will Global Poverty Ever Be Eliminated Entirely?

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In Linda Yueh's "The rise of the global middle class [6.18.13]," she purports that the new global middle class in China, India and Brazil have propelled their economies to equal the size of the industrialized G7 countries and that by 2050, they are forecast to account for nearly half of world output, far surpassing the G7.

What is middle class?

According to organisations like the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it's someone who earns or spends $10 to $100 per day.

Will the trend last?  As the article says at the end, "The prize, which many will hope is in reach, is that global poverty is eliminated entirely within another couple of decades."

Read the entire article:  The rise of the global middle class  Be sure to read all the reader's comments - oftentimes more telling than the article itself.

More current pieces on the rise of the middle class:  The Swelling Middle, How We Can Strengthen the World's Fragile Middle Class (requires free registration) and The "Fragile Middle"

Global Food Prices Hit Record High

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I know this to be true.  Why just last night I bought a 26 oz. can of Maxwell House coffee for U.S. $11.79!  Yes, I like one good cup of coffee early in the morning to start the day right but what a price to pay!

So if you are in the food industry, you better start raising prices *slowly* to your customers now so you don't end up eating into your year-end profit margins.  Or, worse yet, don't smack your customers with a huge price hike all at once.  That's a sure-fire way to lose a customer.  Small price adjustments always work better.

Read the article here.