>> there could be costs related to: environment, quality of life, traditions and values, mental health, etc. quality of life, mental health: are you implying f

>> there could be costs related to: environment, quality of life, traditions and values, mental health, etc. quality of life, mental health: are you implying folks in poverty were perhaps happier before? If so, you're probably not familiar with life in poverty. environment: while there are larger issues that could likely surface (more consumption of electricity, additional waste etc.), the environment in which they lived most likely improved (sanitation, medical help, gas instead of wood-burning stove, cow-dung as fuel, water-borne diseases); this comes from personal experience having lived close to one of the largest slums a long, long time ago.