Despite global economic growth, an estimated one billion people live on less than $1 a day, but, encouragingly, as exemplified by the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, poverty reduction has risen to near the top of the world's agenda. Scholarly treatment of global poverty is typically rooted in disciplines like development economics, political science, and sociology. After cursory attention to historical factors, studies quickly become problem-focused and present-oriented. The literature lacks a broad historical perspective on the emergence of poverty as a global concern. Victory...

According to the World Bank, approximately one billion people live on less than $1 a day. Giving Credit Where Due: A Path to Global Poverty Reduction critically examines the level and quality of the international community's response to such extreme poverty. This timely work traces the ethical and religious underpinnings of social welfare policy; describes income support systems in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere; and proposes a new strategy for reducing global poverty.