Are there any countries where there are absolutely no poor, poor or poor people? If poverty, poverty and slums disappear everywhere? My notes. Muhammad Yunus, Alan Joly. Creating a Poverty-Free World: Social Business and the Future of Capitalization

The short answer to the first question is "no," to the second, "maybe."

Poverty is a relative concept and depends both on the general (median) standard of living in this society and the level of inequality in it, and it is inequality that is primary, while poverty, misery, the poor are purely derived concepts that do not have uniform generally accepted criteria. V different countries and international organizations different criteria are applied to determine poverty rate, poverty, etc. They are usually developed on the basis of two main approaches - an absolute and a relative assessment of the income or property of a given person. As the median standard of living changes, so too do the poverty / misery criteria applied in practice. Therefore, poverty exists in absolutely all countries where there is significant socio-economic inequality. Modern economists overwhelmingly see inequality - and hence poverty, without which inequality cannot exist in principle - as one of the essential rights a free person and the main driving factor in the development of society. Even the voices of their relatively moderate representatives, indicating that monstrous inequality slows down growth and even the normal functioning of the economy (after all, the poor cannot create the necessary demand in the market, and the rich have already met their basic needs) are still in the minority.
So, poverty, in principle, cannot be eliminated in a society in which there are significant inequalities. And since inequality is ubiquitous, so is poverty.

Can the world live without poverty? This is a question, the answer to which will inevitably be subjective and depend on the beliefs of the respondent. The left (I note that these are not only communists, anarchists and other leftists, but also, for example, social democrats and adherents of economic liberalism) advocate limiting and reducing inequality, and hence poverty. The rightists, on the other hand, consider essential inequality to be unavoidable, inherent to society as such, and poverty as a personal choice and / or the problems of poor losers. The views on whether it is possible to narrow the gap between the countries of the Golden Billion and the Third World differ, and there are those (and there are many of them) who believe that such a gap can be closed. But poverty within each of the countries will still occur simply because of its relative nature.

According to the data, every third inhabitant of the Earth is currently poor. and this tendency is only intensifying. Since 2010, the number of billionaires has increased by 13%. The growth in the superstates of billionaires is 7 times faster than the growth in the income of ordinary workers. Whereas the number of hungry people in 2010 began to rise again, and the middle class in most countries is increasingly falling back to the bottom in terms of income and lifestyle.

So the eradication of poverty in the world seems very unlikely in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, sociologists are more and more openly warning about further acceleration of the growth of inequality and the growth of the "epidemic of poverty" around the world.

In 1992, the UN General Assembly, by its resolution, declared October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and called on all states to devote this day to holding and promoting, depending on the specifics of the country, specific measures related to the elimination of poverty and poverty.

Perhaps the most famous of today's poverty fighters is Muhammad Yunus, a professor of economics who founded the Grameen Bank in 1983. Yunus is credited with developing the concept of micro-lending, the essence of which is that small loans without collateral are issued at low interest rates for the development of small family businesses. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize. The prize was awarded for “efforts to create economic and social development from below”.

Some analysts point out that an objective assessment of the performance nobel laureate not represented anywhere. One can agree with this, but the very formulation - “for efforts ...” already answers critics that the main thing in this case is the search for a solution to the problem of global importance. Yunus writes in his book “Creating a World Without Poverty”: “In 2000, world leaders gathered at the UN and, along with other proclaimed goals, made a commitment to halve poverty by 2015. But half of the term has passed, and the results are not encouraging. " We can add to this - it is more realistic to build communism in a single country in twenty years.

Despite the youth of the holiday, in pre-revolutionary Russia, the fight against poverty, and quite effectively, began to be carried out in late XIX century. Pauperism - this was the politically correct name for poverty in the official documents of the Ministry of Finance, concerned about improving the well-being of the population. The financial department chose two main directions to solve the problem: the development of the habit of saving among the population and the creation of a system of affordable industrial loans for the rural population (predominant in number in the empire) and consumer credit for the city.

The development of the network of state savings banks became a means of solving the first problem, the network of credit cooperatives until 1917 increased the volume of lending to the rural population, municipal pawnshops and the possibility of creating savings and loan banks in any institution of the budgetary sphere significantly reduced the dependence of the urban population on usurers.

Sanity of individual modern managers at the municipal level naturally leads them to the need to look for opportunities to provide loans to representatives of the poor in difficult periods for them. For example, Evgeny Vorobyov had such experience when he was the mayor of Tobolsk. But these are isolated positive examples. The main thing that is needed at the present time in this area is, studying the rich experience of the past, to develop a comprehensive system of measures.

Imagine a city that has decided to give money to every resident to meet basic needs. As a result, the health status of people improved, they did not quit their jobs, and the children became more successful in their studies. You say, this cannot be? In 1974, in the small Canadian city of Dauphin, an experiment was conducted that led to these amazing results. In a TED lecture, the Dutch writer Rutger Bregman told why, in his opinion, the root of poverty should not be found in spinelessness, and the basic income should become the right of every person. TAM.BY retells the main ideas of the performance.

The root of poverty is in the “mentality
deficit "

Rutger Bregman is the author of four books on history, philosophy and economics. He begins his presentation by asking why poor people tend to make decisions that are considered wrong. Studies show that they borrow more often, save money less, smoke and drink more alcohol, neglect sports and their menu is not healthy. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave this categorical explanation: she considered poverty "a personality defect." Bregman is convinced that deep down, many people believe that the cause lies in the beggars themselves. He admits that he also thought so for a long time, but then realized that his ideas about poverty were wrong.

Once the writer got acquainted with the work of American psychologists: they studied farmers growing sugarcane in India. These people, when the harvest came to an end, received a lump sum of about 60% of the annual profit. That is, half of the year they lived in relative poverty, and half - in prosperity. Psychologists test their IQ levels before and after harvest - the results "before" were significantly worse. It was found that living in poverty contributes to the fact that IQ drops by 14 points. Insomnia and alcoholism have the same consequences.

Bregman met with one of the researchers, Princeton University professor Eldar Shafir, who developed the theory of poverty. The writer says the bottom line can be summed up in the phrase "scarcity mentality." People's behavior changes when they perceive something - time, money, food - as scarce. They concentrate all their attention on what they do not have in this moment, but do not think about long-term prospects. Imagine a computer running ten tasks at one time. It will work worse and worse, give errors, and then freeze altogether. It's not that the computer is bad, but it has to do too many tasks at the same time. The situation is the same for poor people. Bregman suggests that they don't make bad decisions out of stupidity - in their place, anyone would behave this way.

As a result, programs designed to combat poverty often fail to deliver the expected results. It is not a lack of knowledge that leads to poverty. Poor people can be smart, but telling them about financial literacy is like showing a person how to swim and then throwing them into a seething sea. Learning alone is not enough.

What happens if people get money
for the main ones

According to Bregman, the problem will be solved by changing the environment in which poor people live. A person needs an unconditional basic income. That is, every month he must receive funds, which are enough to provide the most necessary things - food, housing and education. This money needs to be given to everyone and no one can tell a person how to spend it. “Basic income is not a privilege, but a right,” Bregman stresses.

He talks about the Canadian city of Dauphine, where poverty was almost defeated. In 1974, every resident was entitled to an unconditional basic income. There were no people living below the poverty line. The study lasted four years until there was a change in government - new Canadian ministers scrapped the expensive experiment. The results were analyzed only 23 years later by Professor Evelyn Forje from Canada. She concluded that the experiment was more than successful. Thanks to the absence of poverty, the townspeople have become smarter and healthier. Children have shown success in learning. The hospitalization rate decreased by 8.5%. Less frequently, episodes of domestic violence were recorded. Mental health complaints have decreased. People didn't leave work. Only young mothers, whose children were delayed at school, worked a little less. Other experiments were carried out which gave similar results.

Salary should not determine
value of work

Bregman says poverty is expensive. For example, child poverty in the United States is worth $ 500 billion - this money is spent every year due to increased health care costs and a large number of crimes. Poverty is wasting human potential.

But what can you do to move to the unconditional basic income model? In Dauphin, the money was found at the expense of a negative income tax. That is, income increased if a person went below the poverty line.

The writer believes that today is the time for new approaches. Many people feel that the work they are doing is useless. A social survey conducted in 142 countries among 230 thousand workers showed that only 13% of respondents love their job. And according to the results of another survey, it turned out that 37% of working people in the UK believe that they are in a position that does not make sense to exist. The most smart people generations are solving the problem of how to motivate people to click through on Facebook ads.

Bregman thinks the device modern society, economies can be changed. The writer believes that the value of work should be determined not by what salary a person receives, but how much happiness he brings to the world. Living without poverty is not a privilege, but a right that everyone deserves. Poverty is not a sign of spinelessness, but just a lack of money.

You can watch Rutger Bregman's speech here.

Muhammad Yunus Alan Joly

Creating a world without poverty. Social business and the future of capitalism

Muhammad Yunus Alan Jolis

Vers un monde sans pauvreté

The book was translated with the support of the Moscow Government

Published in commercial circulation with the sponsorship of the TRUST National Bank

© 1997 by Éditions JC Lattès

© Exclusive rights to print and publish the book in Russian. NP "NAUMIR", 2010

© Design. Alpina Publishers LLC, 2010

Gratitude is expressed to the National Bank "TRUST" for sponsorship in the publication of the commercial circulation of this book in Russian

In 1969 he graduated from the American Vanderbilt University with a degree in economics.

In 1974 he returned to Bangladesh to teach at the University of Dhaka.

M. Yunus's daughter from her first marriage, Monica Yunus, Russian by mother. Opera singer, prima Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Professor of Economics M. Yunus gave his first loan in the amount of 27 US dollars in 1974 from his own funds to a woman who made bamboo furniture. He considered the lack of primary capital to be one of the main problems of his country and developed the concept of microcredits for the poorest people.

In 1976, he founded the Grameen Bank (Bengali "village bank"), which provided microloans to poor Bangladeshis, initially on the basis of a "solidarity system" where members of small groups could unite, and then they were collectively responsible for repaying loans. ... Then other schemes appeared, housing and agricultural loans were issued, and deposits were accepted. You can get a loan from 100 to 10 thousand US dollars. At the same time, several members of the community are given one loan, which they repay in equal installments. If someone is late with maturity, everyone is fined.

For 30 years, Grameen Bank has issued loans in the amount of 5.72 billion US dollars. Today it serves 6.61 million borrowers, 97% of whom, according to the bank itself, are women. More than 2 thousand branches of Grameen Bank provide services in almost all villages of Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank charitable foundation operates in 22 other countries. Grameen Bank's revenues in 2005 amounted to USD 112.4 million, net profit - USD 15.2 million. 6% of the bank is owned by the government of Bangladesh, and the rest is owned by its borrowers.

This microcredit system has become widespread in more than a hundred countries around the world.

In 2006, M. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee awarded M. Yunus and the Grameen Bank headed by him “for their contribution to the fight against poverty, for creating the foundations for social and economic development". The decision of the Nobel Committee says that the prize is awarded to M. Yunus for his efforts to create a source of social and economic development and the introduction of a microcredit system for the poorest segments of the population of Bangladesh and other countries of South Asia.

In May 2008, following his first visit to Russia, M. Yunus accepted the offer of the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Participants (NAUMIR) to act as an honorary co - chairman of the Board of Trustees.

In August 2009, at a ceremony in Washington, US President Barack Obama presented M. Yunus with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.

M. Yunus visited Russia at the invitation of NAUMIR, the RF Ministry of Economic Development and the Moscow Government twice. During his last visit in November 2009, he presented his concept of "Social Business" to the Russian audience, which is described in this book.

Introduction

It all started with a handshake

Grameen Bank, a microcredit organization I founded, has been successful in providing financial services to low-income women in Bangladesh, so I am often invited to speak to listeners who are interested in ways to improve the lives of women. In October 2005, I was called to a conference like this in the French resort town of Deauville, 90 miles northwest of Paris. I was also due to visit Paris to give a lecture at the Graduate School of Commerce, one of the leading business schools in Europe, where I was going to be awarded the title of professor emeritus.

A few days before my trip to France, the Paris coordinator of my visit received a message from Frank Ribout, chairman of the board and general director Danone is a large French corporation (in America it is called Dannon). It said:

“Mr. Ribu has heard about the activities of Professor Yunus in Bangladesh and would very much like to meet with him. Since the professor is about to travel to Deauville, would he agree to dine with Monsieur Riboux in Paris? "

I am always glad to meet people who are attentive to my work and, in particular, to microcredit, especially if they can help in the fight to reduce and ultimately to eradicate poverty around the world. The chairman of the board of a large multinational corporation was definitely worth talking to. But I was not sure if it would be possible to incorporate the proposed meeting into my already busy travel schedule, and I told the coordinator that I would be happy to meet with Mr. Ribou, if we can find the time to do so.

Don't worry, they answered me. The people from Danone will arrange everything, take you to lunch, and then at the right time, they will take you right to the doors of the Graduate School of Commerce.

So, on October 12th, a Danone corporation limousine picked me up from Orly airport and took me to La Fontaine Gaillon, a Parisian restaurant recently opened by actor Gerard Depardieu. Mr. Ribu was already waiting for me there.

Seven more people came with him: executive directors in charge of various areas of Danone's global business. Among them were: Jean Laurent, Member of the Board, Philippe-Loïc Jacob, General Secretary of the Danone Group, and Jérôme Toubiana, Project Coordinator for Dreams Come True. Also present was Benedict Favre-Tavigno, professor at the Graduate School of Commerce and lecturer in the MBA program in sustainable development.

I was invited to the private room of the restaurant, where I was hospitably greeted, fed with an exquisite French dinner and asked to tell those present about my work.

Very soon I became convinced that Franck Ribout and his colleagues were well acquainted with the activities of the Grameen Bank. They knew that we were among the founders of the global microcredit movement: it helps low-income people by giving them small loans without collateral (sometimes such a loan does not exceed $ 30-40). With these funds, a person can open his own tiny business. The availability of capital, even minimal capital, is fundamentally changing people's lives. Over time, many poor people manage to use microloans to build a prosperous business - a small farm, a craft workshop, a small shop - and thereby save themselves and their families from poverty. In the 31 years since I started lending to the poor (mostly women), millions of families in Bangladesh alone have improved their economic situation through microcredit.

I told Mr Rib and his colleagues how microcredit has gained popularity around the world, especially in developing countries, thanks to thousands of microcredit organizations created by non-profit structures. government bodies and entrepreneurs looking to replicate the success of Grameen Bank. “By the end of next year,” I said, “we hope to announce at the Global Microcredit Summit that this movement, which started from scratch just a few decades ago, has already helped 100 million of the world's poorest people.” (At this summit, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in November 2006, we were able to declare that we have achieved this goal.) Over the next 10 years, we have set ourselves even more ambitious goals, the most important of which is to help 500 million people around the world will be completely out of poverty through microcredit.

In addition, I informed those present that Grameen Bank expanded the scope of its activities and began to work in many other areas - while helping the poor has always been our goal. We have organized special programs loans that allow low-income people to buy housing and get higher education... A beggar lending program was also launched - by the time we spoke, it had already relieved thousands of people from begging and demonstrated that even the poorest of the poor can be considered "creditworthy." We have developed a variety of business programs - some commercially and others non-profit - that have increased the economic opportunities of low-income people in a variety of ways. This includes providing telephones and the Internet to thousands of remote villages, and assisting basketweavers in marketing their products. Thus, I said, every year Grameen's ideas encompass all more families and communities.

In 1997, a casino operated by the Cherokee opened near North Carolina. Despite the fact that such establishments always cause fear among the population, the casino quickly became profitable: in 2004 it brought in $ 150 million, and in 2010 - $ 400 million in profit. This money allowed the Cherokee to build a hospital, school and fire station. At the same time, the lion's share of the money went straight into the pockets of the population - more than 8,000 men, women and children. Over the years of the casino's operation, the income of an average family has increased 12 times.

Over the years, Professor Jane Costello has studied the behavior of Cherokee children, noting problems and successes. It turned out that those kids who grew up in poverty were much more prone to discipline problems. But along with the increase in the average family income, the behavior situation also improved.

40% of children began to behave better, the level of juvenile delinquency decreased. Minors are less likely to use alcohol and drugs, smoke less.

It turns out that poverty forms the mindset and behavioral skills even in childhood.

Why do poor people do stupid things

A world without poverty is one of the most ancient utopias. But anyone who seriously thinks about it will surely face the following questions:

• Why are the poor more likely to commit crimes?
• Why are they prone to obesity?
• Why do they use more alcohol and drugs?
• Why are so many stupid decisions made?

It sounds a little rude, but let's look at the statistics. Poor people are more likely to borrow and save less, smoke more, exercise less, drink more alcohol, and eat more junk food. Announce free training in financial management and the poor will be the last to sign up. The resume of poor people is far from, and they often come to interviews unprepared and in an inappropriate form.

Margaret Thatcher once said that poverty is a personality defect. Few politicians have gone this far in their judgments, but this idea is not unique. The world is dominated by the belief that poverty is something that a person must overcome himself.

Of course, the state can push the poor man in the right direction through payment systems, fines and training. But does that make sense?

But does that make sense?

What if the poor cannot help themselves at all, and the good intentions of the state only make the situation worse?

The questions are not easy, but not only we are asking ourselves. For example, Eldar Shafir, a psychologist at Princeton University, is developing a revolutionary theory of poverty. Its main goal is to create a new area of ​​knowledge - the science of scarcity.

Wait, there is already one. The economy is called.

Eldar Shafir hears such reproaches all the time. But his interest is focused on the psychology of scarcity, an area in which surprisingly little research has been conducted.

For economists, everything is somehow connected with the concept of scarcity. After all, even the biggest spenders cannot buy whatever they want. The perception of scarcity matters a lot. It affects our character. People begin to behave differently when they feel a deficit of this or that good.

It doesn't matter what kind of good we are talking about. Time, money, friendship or food - these benefits lead to the formation of a special, "scarce" mindset. People who are constantly in short supply are good at solving short-term problems. Poor people are amazingly able to make ends meet, but only for a short time. Eldar Shafir calls this phenomenon a decrease in the bandwidth of the mind.

There is no respite from poverty

Despite the described advantage, the scarce mindset has a major disadvantage. Scarcity automatically focuses your attention on what matters in the near future, such as urgent bill payments. And all long-term prospects remain out of sight. Eldar Shafir explains:

Scarcity eats up character. The ability to focus on other things that are very important to you is lost.

The researcher compares this to a new computer that processes ten complex queries at the same time. It will run slower and slower, make more mistakes and crash more often. Not because the computer is bad. The thing is that it performs too many tasks at once. The poor have the same problems. They don't make bad decisions because they are stupid. But because they are in that context where anyone would make a bad decision.

Questions like "What are we going to eat today?" and "How to survive until the end of the week?" require attention and tremendous effort. The poor person constantly loses concentration, its easy. This continues from day to day. It is not surprising that sooner or later such people start doing stupid things.

There is a big difference between those who are constantly busy and those who constantly have no money: you cannot rest from poverty.

Poverty is not a character problem. These are cash problems.

Is it possible to say exactly how stupid a person becomes from poverty?

Eldar Shafir says poverty takes 13-14 IQ points. This effect can be compared with the effects of chronic sleep deprivation or alcoholism. Surprisingly, this data could not be obtained for 30 years. Shafir admits:

Economists have studied the phenomenon of scarcity for many years. Psychologists have been studying cognitive limitations for the same amount of time. We just put two and two together.

Eldar Shafir believes that poverty alleviation has advantages that no one has noticed before. The researcher proposes not only to calculate the GDP, but also to measure the bandwidth of the mind. The smaller it is, the more we are limited by poverty. The larger it is, the more productive the workers are, the higher the birth rate, better health... Shafir says: the fight against poverty will lead to the prosperity of the state.

What a person can do on their own and right now

The first thing a person suffering from a lack of money should do is to stop panicking and get rid of the constant. By trying to solve the problems that arise every day, you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to plan, dream, and relax.

Problems will still arise. The pipe starts to leak. The car will break down. The policeman will issue a fine.

How can you help yourself to relax? Plan your vacation ahead of time. Even if you have absolutely no time. According to Shafir, 30 minutes will be enough to "meet with yourself." Of course it won't be easy. But such a step is necessary.

What else can you do? Let's go back to the casino story. Randall Akee, an economist based in Los Angeles, calculated that even distribution of casino income among the population ultimately helped to reduce the total. By eliminating poverty, society actually generated more money... This happened thanks to a drop in crime and an increase in educational levels, as well as the work of security and health services.

The idea that fighting poverty is cheaper than poverty itself and its consequences is not new. A similar thought was expressed by the British essayist Samuel Johnson in 1782. He wrote:

Poverty is a great enemy of human happiness. It destroys freedom, making some goals unattainable and others incredibly distant.

Unlike his contemporaries, Johnson understood that poverty is not a character flaw.

Poverty is a lack of money.