"This book analyses the phenomenon of poverty through a study of 24 countries, representing all types of economy, the industrialized economies, the planned economies, the developing market economies, the mixed economies, and the least developed economies. Different ways of measuring poverty are analysed including GDP per capita and the Human Development Index. The book has a historical sweep and discusses the causality of poverty and the methods to eradicate it used in different regimes. It will be of interest to researchers and students of development economics, development studies, political economy and economic policy around the world as well as those involved in poverty eradication, in national governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations."--BOOK JACKET.