Old Spanish Wisdom, The Non-Reading Class, Global Poverty Decline

Three Point Thursday

Happy Three Point Thursday!

This week’s edition features a Spanish proverb, some statistics on reading, and evidence supporting the idea that it’s overwhelmingly economic growth—and not wealth redistribution—that lifts people out of poverty.

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1. A timeless truth.

I recently came across this old Spanish proverb: El sabio siempre quiere aprender, el ignorante siempre quiere enseñar—The wise always want to learn, the ignorant always wants to teach. It brings to mind a classic quote attributed to the physicist Richard Feynman: “I’m smart enough to know that I’m dumb.” Or another one attributed to Shakespeare: “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” In other words, always be learning.

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2. The non-reading class.

In a 2021 survey, 23% of American adults reported not having reading a book in the previous year (source).

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3. The good old days were not so good.

In 1820, approximately 75% of the global population lived in extreme poverty, defined as surviving on less than what is now equivalent to $2.15 per day (source). By contrast, today only 8.5% of the global population lives in extreme poverty. Two centuries of economic growth have lifted most people out of dreadful living conditions.

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