I go on TED.com while I eat sometimes. It’s a great place to listen to the greatest minds on our planet. The topics range from Technology, Economics, Design (hence, the name TED).

Today, I saw an incredible presentation from a doctor/researcher named Hans Rosling. He used the data published by the United Nations to see (graphically) the patterns of poverty, the economic performance and health of countries. The software he had used was absolutely amazing (as was his entire presentation). You can see a picture below:

He explained that we are focusing too much on the health issues of developing countries, but obviously he can explain it much better than I can so here’s his presentation below:

One thing I want to point out is that he believes that Economic Growth is very important in a developing country, while Health is the least important. That makes sense. As the economy grows and people get richer, they also become more healthy since they no longer have to live in a poor environment. What we are doing now is giving money to countries in poverty to save them from health problems while their economy remains stagnant. Right now, their economy is almost entirely based on the donations from wealthier nations. How can a country grow if the only way to sustain their economy is by receiving donations?

When I become rich, I will help poverty by suggesting ways to jump-start their economy, not just blindly donate my money to some organization. Better yet, I want to create my own organization dedicated to these issues and actually provide an effective way of finding solutions to global problems, not just some half-assed organization that tackles issues that only the media would cover, and thus, would improve my image which is what a lot of the riches do.

- Peter Kao