#high-income countries

[dayofbanks]

How to escape the Middle-income Trap?

More than 100 countries—including China, India, Brazil, and South Africa—face serious obstacles that could hinder their efforts to become high-income countries in the next few decades, according to a new World Bank study that provides the first comprehensive roadmap to enable developing countries.... UN Web TV

Watch the World Bank explaining How to escaoe the Middle-income Trap?

[equalpayday]

Gender labour income gap.

In high-income countries, a women earn 73 cents and men 1 dollar; compare to low-income countries where women earn 44 cents and mean 1 dollar. Despite a drop in the global unemployment rate to 4.9% in 2024, the ILO reports persistent inequalities in the labour market. Women in low-income countries are particularly affected. Read more:

[metamatar]

i think the new way western leftists are gonna ignore discourse about imperialism is pretending that extreme poverty in the global south is not real.

[patrice-bergerons]

My UK tax return is due by end of January and granted it takes an hour to fill but I am NOT letting myself write any fic until it is out of the way 😔😔😔

[meat-loving-meat]

I want to write a Vanyel/Stefen modern-with-magic AU soooo bad but I don’t know Valdemar lore like at all. There are six books standing between me and feeling comfortable enough in the lore to imagine what Valdemar might look like with the internet and planes

[black-rose-irl]

IDK if it's a generational divide thing or whatever, but I don't like arguing with my mom about teenagers dating grown-ass adults.

[orcelito]

ok yea im still capable of crying apparently

[feeshybeach]

I live so far away from the nearest larger city that I'd have to walk over 46 miles to get there - likely more due to the fact the place I live has strict laws about bystanders walking on freeways/highways. if I wanted to walk fewer miles, I could walk roughly about 10 to 12 miles (again, just to get there, not round trip).

Have I mentioned I'm disabled? I can barely make it down to the mailbox and back without feeling weak and exhausted. that's at maximum, 70 feet away from the van I live in. If I had to walk to the closest E.R. I'd have to walk 19 miles.

Even when I didn't live in a more rural space and admittedly lived in a larger city with a lot more infrastructure. It was still completely unreasonable to walk to any location - the elementary school (that I didn't go to as I was in middle school and also I did online school but that's not the point) That was a walkable distance - even in my current disabled state. Why? It was. Literally across the street.

the only other major place that was worthwhile for me to go to was a local garden/park area, and even then, that was insanely difficult to get to. The sidewalks were severely under maintained, and some of them were so overgrown that the plant matter was directly affecting the MAIN ROAD!

“America IS walkable, you’re all just lazy” my childhood home was an hour from the nearest hospital (by car)

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

if I've learned anything from grad school it's to check your sources, and this has proven invaluable in the dozens of instances when I've had an MBA-type try to tell me something about finances or leadership. Case in point:

Firefox serves me clickbaity articles through Pocket, which is fine because I like Firefox. But sometimes an article makes me curious. I'm pretty anal about my finances, and I wondered if this article was, as I suspected, total horseshit, or could potentially benefit me and help me get my spending under control. So let's check the article in question.

It mostly seems like common sense. "...track expenses and income for at least a month before setting a budget...How much money do I have or earn? How much do I want to save?" Basic shit like that. But then I get to this section:

This sounds fucking made up to me. And thankfully, they've provided a source to their claim that "research has repeatedly shown" that writing things down changes behavior. First mistake. What research is this?

Forbes, naturally, my #1 source for absolute dogshit fart-sniffing financial schlock. Forbes is the type of website that guy from high school who constantly posts on linkedin trawls daily for little articles like this that make him feel better about refusing to pay for a decent package for his employees' healthcare (I'm from the United States, a barbaric, conflict-ridden country in the throes of civil unrest, so obsessed with violence that its warlords prioritize weapons over universal medical coverage. I digress). Forbes constantly posts shit like this, and I constantly spend my time at leadership seminars debunking poor consultants who get paid to read these claims credulously. Look at this highlighted text. Does it make sense to you that simply writing your financial goals down would result in a 10x increase in your income? Because if it does, let me make you an offer on this sick ass bridge.

Thankfully, Forbes also makes the mistake of citing their sources. Let's check to see where this hyperlink goes:

SidSavara. I've never heard of this site, but the About section tells me that Sid is "a technology leader who empowers teams to grow into their best selves. He is a life-long learner enjoys developing software, leading teams in delivering mission critical projects, playing guitar and watching football and basketball."

That doesn't mean anything. What are his LinkedIn credentials? With the caveat that anyone can lie on Linkedin, Mr. Savara appears to be a Software Engineer. Which is fine! I'm glad software engineers exist! But Sid's got nothing in his professional history which suggests he knows shit about finance. So I'm already pretty skeptical of his website, which is increasingly looking like a personal fart-huffing blog.

The article itself repeats the credulous claim made in the Forbes story earlier, but this time, provides no link for the 3% story. Mr. Savara is smarter than his colleages at Forbes, it's much wiser to just make shit up.

HOWEVER. I am not the first person to have followed this rabbit hole. Because at the very top of this article, there is a disclaimer.

Uh oh!

Sid's been called out before, and in the follow up to this article, he reveals the truth.

You can guess where this is going.

So to go back to the VERY beginning of this post, both Pocket/Good Housekeeping and Forbes failed to do even the most basic of research, taking the wild claim that writing down your budget may increase your income by 10x on good faith and the word of a(n admittedly honest about his shortcomings) software engineer.

Why did I spend 30 minutes to make a tumblr post about this? Mostly to show off how smart I am, but also to remind folks of just how flimsy any claim on the internet can be. Click those links, follow those sources, and when the sources stop linking, ask why.

[livewellnews]

Can India Achieve High-Income Status by 2047? Martin Wolf Weighs In

In a recent lecture organized by CUTS, Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times, expressed skepticism about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious goal of making India a high-income country by 2047. While he acknowledged that the goal might be out of reach, he projected that India could still achieve upper middle-income status and emerge as a global superpower by the middle of the century.

Domestic Challenges and Necessary Reforms

Wolf pointed out that the significant obstacles to India’s progress lie within its domestic institutions, policies, and politics. He emphasized that achieving inclusive and rapid growth would require not only sustained openness to global markets but also massive investments in both physical and human capital. “Openness remains a handmaiden of economic progress,” Wolf remarked.

The Plausibility of Modi’s Vision

Reflecting on PM Modi’s vision, Wolf questioned the feasibility of transforming India into a high-income nation by 2047. However, he remained optimistic about India’s potential to become an upper middle-income country and a superpower by that time, underscoring the importance of size and influence on the global stage.

Navigating a Challenging Global Landscape

Wolf highlighted the current global environment as slow-growing, shock-prone, and fragile, which presents additional challenges for India. He stressed the importance of India using its influence to shape global dynamics in its favor while also adapting internally to seize emerging opportunities.

Leveraging Global Opportunities

In his analysis, Wolf noted that India has the potential to form productive economic relations worldwide and partially replace China as a competitive global supplier of goods and services. He urged India to position itself as a magnet for foreign direct investment and to play a constructive role in global discussions.

Strategic Economic Positioning

Wolf advised against succumbing to aggressive industrial policies and self-sufficiency. Instead, he recommended focusing on the services sector, where India holds a comparative advantage. He emphasized that India is large enough to shape global trends while simultaneously reforming its domestic economy to enhance its global competitiveness.

Conclusion

While acknowledging the hurdles, Martin Wolf’s insights suggest that with the right policies and strategic openness, India can make significant strides towards becoming an upper middle-income country and a superpower by 2047. The journey will require careful navigation of both domestic and global challenges, but the potential rewards are immense.

[patrice-bergerons]

My UK tax return is due by end of January and granted it takes an hour to fill but I am NOT letting myself write any fic until it is out of the way 😔😔😔

[russenoire]

i have a number of friends with upper-five- and six-figure incomes. it was pretty eye-opening when i learned that they do not consider themselves 'wealthy' or 'rich'. and they know they're skating on the rim of a volcano, too. they just happen to exist a little further away from lava death than the rest of us.

Ive noticed recently that my generation has... no concept of what the various economic classes actually are anymore. I talk to my friends and they genuinely say things like "at least i can afford a middle class lifestyle with this job because i dont need a roommate for my one bedroom apartment" and its like... oughh

You guys, middle class doesnt mean "a stable enough rented roof over your head," it means "a house you bought, a nice car or two, the ability to support a family, and take days off and vacations every year with income to spare for retirement savings and rainy days." If all you have is a rented apartment without a roommate and a used car, you're lower class. That's lower class.

And i cant help but wonder if this is why you get kids on tumblr lumping in doctors and actors into their "eat the rich" rhetoric: economic amnesia has blinded you to what the class divides actually are. The real middle class lifestyle has become so unattainable within a system that relies upon its existence that theyve convinced you that those who can still reach it are the elites while your extreme couponing to afford your groceries is the new normal.

[diss-track]

Someone who isn't european: I wanna try this and eat this

Some idiot european who thinks they're better than everyone who basically isn't white: oh don't eat that, disrespectful to what we have, eat/drink this instead

Me immediately seeing this: thanks I will eat/drink that in front of you to piss you off

[malcriada]

TIME SENSITIVE, PLEASE HELP BILAL

We want to extend our deepest gratitude and thanks to all the people who came out in support of Bilal‘s campaign and shared and donated. 

I���m really happy to announce that not only have some of the funds raised benefitted his family in Gaza, but it has also helped Bilal find a new place to stay, away from his terrible ex-employer and landlord, and has enabled him to extend his residency for another month. He  is no longer at risk of deportation right now. It’s only thanks to your incredible support that all this was possible.

But despite all these good news, we need your help again. 

There is currently no option to transfer funds from Germany to Gaza, as bank transfers to Gaza are being blocked by the German government. This means Bilal has to first transfer the funds to a bank in another country, and then from there to Gaza. The funds currently take a very long time to reach his family, and require Bilal to pay a high fee for the transfer as well. 

On top of that, his ex-employer and landlord had extorted a large sum (€4800) from Bilal – a sum he claimed he still owed him from the time he was employed under him. With no other source of income at the time, Bilal saw no choice but to pay it using some of the money from the campaign. 

Bilal feels extremely conflicted to be asking for help so soon again after reaching his last goal. But he unfortunately sees no other option due to the aforementioned problems. 

We need your help in fighting the repression from the German government and also making sure that the funds you helped Bilal raise also reach his family in full. 

This is why we need to raise €8,850 by the 15th of September i.e within the next 2 weeks. he currently has raised €101,150 of €110,000

This amount will help make up for the funds that were extorted from him by his landlord and help him pay the fees for multiple international bank transfers.

Please help Bilal reach his goal in time. You have gotten him this far, please don't let him down now. his campaign has been verified and can be found on @/el-shab-hussein’s and @/nabulsi’s list of vetted fundraisers here (#132, line 136) so PLEASE don't hesitate to share and donate.

[ID: a gfm link with a picture of two small children sitting in the sand in front of a cooking pot. they are looking up a the camera, eyes half-closed. the title reads "Donate to Help Evacuate My Family from Gaza to Safety, organized by Bilal salah" End ID] tagging for reach under the cut, please let me know if you'd like to be removed:

@timetravellingkitty @deathlonging @briarhips @dirhwangdaseul @mahoushojoe

@rhubarbspring @schoolhater @pcktknife @transmutationisms @sawasawako

@feluka @birabiroo @irhabiya @commissions4aid-international @wellwaterhysteria

@deepspaceboytoy @post-brahminism @khanger @evillesbianvillain @neechees

@mangocheesecakes @kyra45-helping-others @jezior0 @7bitter @tortiefrancis

@toiletpotato @fromjannah @omegaversereloaded @vague-humanoid @tododeku-or-bust

@aristotels @komsomolka @xinakwans @heritageposts @nibeul

@ot3 @amygdalae @ankle-beez @lonniemachin @dykesbat

@watermotif @stuckinapril @mavigator @lacecap @yugiohz

@socalgal @chilewithcarnage @ghelgheli @sayruq @northgazaupdates2

@vakarians-babe @wayneradiotv @paper-mario-wiki @rthko @decolonize-the-everything

@velvetys @3000s @punkitt-is-here @ghelgheli @feluka

@cruzwalters @yugiohz @akajustmerry @shesnake @tamamita

@opencommunion

[fractallogic]

sickkkkkkkkk just did The Math™ and found out my rent is fully 70% of my take-home per month

which, let's be honest, is a lot better than me making $0 per month and spending the same on rent, but fucking still