Poverty is a social fact of life for billions of people around the world. The developed countries abhor poverty, or seem to, for several reasons. Perhaps it is a blotch on their consciences. Perhaps there is a genuine desire to help those who are not prospering while others around them are. Perhaps they wish to pay lip service to the good cause of eliminating either poverty or the poor, whichever comes first. This book brings together new economic research on programs and policies related to poverty and its elimination or alleviation.