I agree that pollution could have a disproportionate impact on the poor -- for
example, mudslides caused by deforestation, affecting primarily shantytowns
built on marginal land. The poor also probably suffer more from air and water
pollution than do the rich. The rich can afford treatment of air- pollution -
related illness and can get clean water.
However, there is no simple relationship between economic growth and
deforestation. There's some evidence that air pollution gets worse and then gets
better as an economy's income rises. Water pollution seems to improve with
rising per capita GDP, according to some results by Gene Grossman and Alan
Krueger at Princeton (the same source for the air pollution result).
Abdu Mohiddin <[log in to unmask]>@mailbase.ac.uk on 06/07/2000 11:21:25 AM
Please respond to [log in to unmask]
Sent by: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject: Re: Moral Economics-4
Whilst growth on average may increase the incomes of poor as much as the
rich, what is the distribution of the less desirable effects of economic
growth e.g pollution, health effects of rising relative income inequality
etc..?
Do they increase proportionately too or is the burden heavier on the poor?
At 16:04 07/06/00 +0100, you wrote:
>
>
>> There is no systematic relationship between fast growth and rising
>> inequality in
>> data on a number of countries and a number of periods. Because on average
>> inequality doesn't change much, growth on average increases the incomes of
>> the
>> poor as much as the rich. (See papers by Ravallion, Dollar and Kraay, and
>> my
>> own "life during growth" on the web-site below).
>>
>>
>> Easterly has also said that the income of the poor rises by as much as
>> that
>> of the non-poor. If this is so in percentage terms, then it is clear that
>> the
>> ABSOLUTE gap must widen. Our analysis shows that the absolute gap between
>> the
>> income of the poor and non-poor has indeed increased with growth in
>> virtually all cases.
>>
>>
>>
>> [log in to unmask]@mailbase.ac.uk on 06/06/2000 12:06:54 PM
>>
>> Please respond to [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Sent by: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> cc:
>>
>> Subject: re: Moral Economics-4
>>
>>
>> Dear sirs:
>>
>> If GDP growth is supposed to be so good for the poor, why is it that the
>> elephantine growth in the US economy has resulted in a widening gap
>> between the
>> rich and poor?
>> John Riley
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> William Easterly
>> MC3-337
>> World Bank
>> 1818 H Street
>> Washington DC 20433
>> Phone 202 473 8965
>> Fax 202 522 3518
>> Web-site: http://www.worldbank.org/research/growth
>>
>
William Easterly
MC3-337
World Bank
1818 H Street
Washington DC 20433
Phone 202 473 8965
Fax 202 522 3518
Web-site: http://www.worldbank.org/research/growth
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