Martin Ravallion
He reshaped how the world measures poverty, establishing the dollar-a-day standard that defined global development goals for decades.
1952–2022 (age 70)·Australian economist·Birthday: March 19·Baby Boomers
Biography
Born in Australia, Martin Ravallion’s intellectual journey took him from the London School of Economics to the heart of global policy at the World Bank. His work was never confined to abstract theory; it was a relentless pursuit of a single, practical question: how do we accurately count and understand the world’s poor? This focus led him to pioneer the methodology behind the famous international poverty line, a tool that transformed vague sympathies into concrete targets for governments and aid organizations. Later, as a professor at Georgetown, he continued to scrutinize the mechanics of inequality and social protection, arguing with quiet persistence that data must serve humanity. His legacy is a framework that, for better or worse, has dictated where billions of dollars in development spending flow.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Martin was born in 1952, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Martin Was Born
The biggest hits of 1952
#1 Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
Best Picture
The Greatest Show on Earth
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Martin's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1952Born
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1957Started school
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1965Became a teenager
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Could drive
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1970Could vote
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Turned 21
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1982Turned 30
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 40
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 50
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 60
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 70
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Key Achievements
- Led the development of the World Bank's influential dollar-a-day international poverty line.
- Served as Director of the Research Department at the World Bank, guiding its global economic analysis.
- Authored the seminal book 'The Economics of Poverty', a comprehensive analysis of anti-poverty policies.
- Was appointed the inaugural Edmond D. Villani Professor of Economics at Georgetown University.
Did You Know?
His PhD thesis at LSE was on the economics of housing markets, not poverty directly.
He was a vocal critic of how the poverty line could be misused, emphasizing it was a tool, not a perfect truth.
Ravallion contributed to the 'PovcalNet' software, an online tool that allows anyone to compute global poverty measures.
“The way we measure poverty can affect what we do about it.”
