Between 1980 and 2000, the consumption rate—a measure of goods used by a society—grew in the developing world twice as fast as on the rest of the planet. Because population size and population health and longevity are impacted by consumption, these numbers improved as well. Compared to fifty years ago, today the Chinese are ten times as rich, have one-third fewer babies, and live twenty-eight years longer. In that same half-century time span, Nigerians are twice as well off, with 25 percent fewer children and a nine-year boost in life span. All told, according to the United Nations, poverty
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