4 ms·

When the bottom billion in India make around $1-$2 a day, his estimate is off by about an order of magnitude.

• yummyfajitas 15y ago
  India has 1B people and a GDP per capita of about $1400/year, making it a mathematical impossibility that the bottom billion earns $1/day. The minimum wage in India is 115rs/day, or 11.5rs/hour with a 10 hour workday, so it wouldn't even be legal to pay 5rs/hour (an order of magnitude less than the 50rs/hour algoshift postulated). Assuming the machine operators earn a median Indian wage, assuming 8 hour days, 6 days/week, 52 weeks/year, their wage will be 28rs/hour.
  • huxley 15y ago
    According to the 2011 Census, India has 1.2 Billion people, so that rules out any mathematical impossibility. $1 a day may seem extreme but in reality it's not quite as ridiculous as you suggest. In 2005, the World Bank estimated that 42% of India's population lived on $1.25 or less per day. In the interim years, the urban poor saw a 3.6% increase in income inequality and the rural 1.3%. The issue of minimum wage in India is complicated, not all wage-earners get the either the national or state-level minimum wage (and women are disproportionally excluded). This article covers it in detail: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_145336.pdf http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---pro...
  • chc 15y ago
    India has a little over 1.17 billion people, so if almost all the wealth goes to the top 15%, it's mathematically possible for the bottom billion to make $1 a day. As you say, though, it still doesn't sound legal.
    • deleted 15y ago
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