In Chapter 2, we defined the extent of absolute poverty as the number of people who are unable to command sufficient resources to satisfy basic needs.They are counted as the total number living below a specified minimum level
of real income an international poverty line. That line knows no national boundaries, is independent of the level of national per capita income, and takes into account differing price levels by measuring poverty as anyone living on less than $1.25 a day or $2 per day in PPP dollars. Absolute poverty can and does exist, therefore, as readily in New York City as it does in Kolkata,
Cairo, Lagos, or Bogotá, although its magnitude is likely to be much lower in terms of percentages of the total population.