more people moving from poverty to middle class than ever before

begin quote from page 41 October 1, Time Magazine:

"In spite of all the recent criticism of free trade and free markets, it's important to remember that in the 25 years leading up to the present economic crisis, more people worldwide moved from poverty to middle class than at any other time in history.

The problem is that the population is growing fastest in the areas least able to take advantage of the benefits of the modern world. Talent and intelligence may be spread evenly across the planet, but opportunity is not."
end quote from page 41 October 1, 2012 Time Magazine.

So, if you have studied history very much and the histories of economic expansions and contractions it is often like studying childbirth in some ways. Without contractions the baby cannot be born but also without the expansions the baby can't come out either. So, it is like an ongoing cycle of expansions and contractions birthing each new successive era of human history here on earth.