In addition to the technical challenges with creating a global poverty count as outlined in my post below, there are also conceptual issues with poverty counts that I would be remiss to not include.  

First is the simple idea of a head count, as defined by those above or below a defined consumption level.  People's lives are not significantly different just below or just above that line, and yet those above are excluded from our numbers.  Small changes to the line can lead to big changes in t...

Measuring global poverty levels is hard, so hard the actual numbers might be of limited use. According to Angus Deaton, the godfather of poverty measurement, "it seems impossible to make statements about changes in world poverty when the ground underneath one's feet is changing in this way."  I thought it would be helpful to illuminate why.