Drive to the Park Meadows Mall and just after the County Line Rd exit there seems to always be a person on the corner of the traffic light asking nearby drivers for money. I am interested in this topic because I am going on a mission trip to Guatemala this summer to help families living in poverty and the issue has caught my interest. Over the last decade, poverty has also started to become an increasingly widespread problem around the world, especially abroad. Poverty harms economic growth around the world, including the United States, and there has been much discussion about how to solve the problem by helping to reduce poverty levels. In 2005, the US Government Accountability Office (GOA) estimated that there were approximately 37 million people in America living in poverty, or approximately 13% of the total population (GAO Report 2). However, minorities in America, such as African-Americans and Hispanics, have a higher level of poverty, and older adults have lower poverty rates (GAP 2 reports). Americans are considered one of the rich countries, which will lead foreign countries to have much worse poverty conditions. Africa is a great example of one of the countries that have serious poverty problems in their country and it has hurt them economically. The GOA found that poverty harms the economy due to negative effects on human capital: education, work experience, training, and health of the workforce (GAO Report 2). As support for solving poverty grew, I began to think about these questions: What are the possible solutions to reduce poverty around the world? What impact will solving poverty have on the economy? I suggest that the reason there is a high level of poverty in the world may be... middle of the paper... productive economics. Although I don't believe in the negative consequences that my observations have raised in fighting poverty in the world. I think these solutions are the best hope for supporting the fight against poverty and should not be ignored. Three of the solutions I noticed were: improving agriculture with expansion and science, free trade/fairer trade rules, and help from rich countries. Knowing that genetically modified crops could increase the global food supply, free trade will stimulate the world economy, and rich countries are helping to increase aid. Finally, knowing these possible solutions and not using them due to controversial topics could backfire on us. To get the maximum benefits from these solutions to the fight against poverty, they need to be taken seriously and they could advance the world economy to a better status.. (1472)