Development economist William Easterly writes:

In the midst of the general doom and gloom, fears about how the crisis will affect poor countries, and fierce criticism of markets, states, and aid agencies, perhaps it’s healthy to step back to the big picture, to recognize there has already been some very real good news. The graph below shows some overall statistics for the developing world:

Easterly’s blog is here. For anyone interested in global poverty, it’s well worth checking in on regularly.

Thanks to Mark Thoma for highlighting Easterly’s post.