Thats a good measure, but I am pessimistic about poverty ever being rooted out completely (absent of a technological invention that creates abundant energy for very cheap, e.g. fusion, antimatter later on).<p>The reality is, poverty can be cultural. In the west a saying like &quot;they can pay me little but I&#x27;ll work even less&quot; would be considered absurd. In certain countries - its a folk tradition.<p>Another problem is a self-inflicted brain drain. Smart people with potential don&#x27;t want to live in festering shitholes where property rights are not respected, rule of law unexistant and hence economic opportunity absent.