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Economic wealth is something that needs to be created, by people, wherever they are situated. People in impoverished countries need better knowledge, skills, and institutions to create more economic wealth, if they are going to reach the living standards enjoyed in OECD countries. Those in advanced economies need to keep increasing their wealth in order to be able to tackle the increasingly complex challenges they’ll be facing in the future.

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t give generously to people in need. But we need to keep in mind the end goal: assisting them to achieve sustainable economic growth. Indeed merely redistributing wealth can end up crowding out the development of sustainable local economies, as the philosopher Larry Temkin has discussed.

Going forward, there is no alternative to huge increases in global economic growth. Contrary to our strong intuitions, infinite economic growth is both logically and practically possible on our finite planet, and utterly necessary if we want to provide every person on Earth with a decent lifestyle. We should not be taken in by prophesies to the contrary, which have come and gone since the beginning of human progress itself.