Let us start with the good news. Never has so great a proportion of the world’s people been free of extreme poverty. In 1981, two-fifths of the world’s population lived under the extreme “dollar-a-day” poverty line; in 2001 the figure was one fifth. The world economy has rarely grown faster over a sustained period, and very large, very poor countries are major sources of that growth. This growth presents political and especially environmental challenges, but it is a dramatic development success story.

What is more, while there are obstacles ahead, there is every reason to hope that this progress can continue, lifting many more people out of poverty. Everyone who cares about the fate of the world’s poor should be celebrating far more than they tend to.