Where to from Here? Generating Capabilities and Creating Opportunities for the Poor

Poverty is present in all modern societies. Even in the richest countries in the world, few would disagree that some individuals have unacceptably low living standards. [1] How to address this problem, however, is still unclear. Recently, an old debate has been revived: is the solution to achieve economic growth, or should governments actively pursue poverty reduction policies? There are basically two opposing views. One states that the income of the poor grows one for one with economic growth; therefore, policies that guarantee growth implicitly contribute to poverty reduction, and the justification for additional social policies is unclear. [2] The other view is that the incomes of the poor grow less than one for one with average income. [3]