Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
The End of Poverty summary
Jeffrey Sachs
Economic Possibilities for Our Time
19 mins
Topics
Table of Contents
The End of Poverty
Summary of 9 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 9
The Industrial Revolution produced vast wealth for some, but billions still live in extreme poverty.
Equality varies tremendously from one country to another. In fact, while the people in wealthy countries have enormous resources at their disposal and consume much more than they need, those in the poorest nations struggle every day just to fill their stomachs with the food necessary for survival.
The result is that every day 18,000 children die of malnutrition. That’s one child every five seconds!
But these huge disparities in wealth haven’t always existed. In fact, they are a product of the last 200 years. For instance, 200 years ago, most people, regardless of where they lived, were pretty poor. As a result, the differences in poverty level between Europe and Africa were relatively small.
However, as some countries rapidly developed during the Industrial Revolution, they left others behind. For example, the steam engine enabled the mass production of goods while steam trains and ships boosted trade. Furthermore, the advent of electricity and telecommunication made further progress possible, resulting in the constant growth of the global economy.
But certain states benefited from this progress more than others: namely the Western nations.
As a result, countries outside the West remain poor to this day. For instance, today about one billion people are in extreme poverty, living on less than $1 a day. Another 1.5 billion are in moderate poverty, meaning they live on $1–2 a day. That’s enough for basic survival, but not enough for luxuries like a flush toilet or clean running water. Then there are the 2.5 billion people in the middle class. That means they can afford shelter, a television and maybe even a motorbike.
So why do some countries remain poor to this day?
Want to see all full key ideas from The End of Poverty?
Key ideas in The End of Poverty
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is The End of Poverty about?
The End of Poverty (2005) is a guide to ending extreme poverty once and for all. These blinks explain how little investment is actually required to transform the lives of millions. That is, as long as it’s spent wisely.
Who should read The End of Poverty?
- Anybody who wants to end global poverty
- Everyone with an interest in politics or international relations
- Every charitable person
Categories with The End of Poverty
Books like The End of Poverty
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
28 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers