Fighting Poverty Together: Rethinking Strategies for Business, Governments, and Civil Society to Reduce Poverty

Despite the tremendous economic growth around the world in the last thirty years, the number of people living in poverty has gone up. While economic growth is necessary for poverty reduction, it is obviously not enough. Prosperity has not "trickled down" to the poor. Policies and actions directed at reducing poverty have not been effective. Developing effective strategies requires analysis of current strategies and new ideas. Aneel Karnani does just that using concepts drawing broadly from the fields of business, economics, and development. In this hard-hitting polemic, Karnani first demonstrates what is wrong with today's approaches to reducing poverty. He then proposes an eclectic approach to poverty reduction in which business, government, and civil society all have an important role, arguing for a paradigm shift to focus on the poor as producers. The primary emphasis must be on creating employment opportunities for the poor and increasing their productive capacities by ensuring basic public services. The fight against poverty relies on raising income through job creation and providing basic public services for all people of the world. Business should provide truly beneficial products and services to the poor at prices they can afford, and governments should regulate markets to protect vulnerable consumers, especially the poor.