Some 2.5 billion human beings live in severe poverty, deprived of such essentials as adequate nutrition, safe drinking water, basic sanitation, adequate shelter, literacy, and basic health care. One third of all human deaths are from poverty-related causes: 18 million annually, including over 10 million children under five. However huge in human terms, the world poverty problem is tiny economically. Just 1 percent of the national incomes of the high-income countries would suffice to end severe poverty worldwide. Yet, these countries, unwilling to bear an opportunity cost of this magnitude, continue to impose a grievously unjust global institutional order that foreseeably and avoidably perpetuates the catastrophe. Most citizens of affluent countries believe that we are doing nothing wrong. Thomas Pogge seeks to explain how this belief is sustained. He analyses how our moral and economic theorizing and our global economic order have adapted to make us appear disconnected from massive poverty abroad. Dispelling the illusion, he also offers a modest, widely sharable standard of global economic justice and makes detailed, realistic proposals toward fulfilling it. Thoroughly updated, the second edition of this classic book incorporates responses to critics and a new chapter introducing Pogge's current work on pharmaceutical patent reform.

Thomas Pogge tries to explain how most of the population of this planet can excuse world poverty. A mere one or two % of the wealth of the richer nations could help in eradicating much of the poverty but there's a slim chance of that happening.

Thomas Pogge tries to explain the attitude of affluent populations to world poverty. One or two per cent of the wealth of the richer nations could help in eradicating much of the poverty and Pogge presents a powerful moral argument.

Presents fifteen essays by academics about the severe poverty that afflicts billions of human lives. These essays seek to explain why freedom from poverty is a human right and what duties this right creates for the affluent.

This text considers the issues of world poverty and global justice, addressing the ability of people in poor or developing countries to have enough food, or clean water, or access to basic healthcare. It draws on international law aimed at the protection and promotion of human rights.

This timely and insightful book brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to evaluate the role of human rights in tackling the global challenges of poverty and economic inequality. Reflecting on the concrete experiences of particular countries in tackling poverty, it appraises the international success of human rights-based approaches.

Examines the activities of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, in relation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank.