The Unassuming Economist

“Today, wherever people live, they don’t have to look far to confront inequalities. Inequality in its various forms is an issue that will define our time.“

As the United Nations puts it, inequality of income, opportunity, and a variety of other factors is among matters of utmost importance to governments, multilateral institutions, and people at large today. Modern-day discussions on the theme seek to understand inequality by analyzing it through multiple lenses, discussing conflicting opinions, and contrasting approaches to tackle it.

In one such discussion presented underneath, economists David Green of the University of British Columbia and Parikshit Ghosh of Delhi School of Economics deliberate on factors influencing the state of inequality today such as trade and globalization, the gradual ideological shift to the ‘right’, changing nature of work – the role of technological advancements, hierarchies created by higher education, and ‘rents’ rather than returns to skill, and the new role of social protection that goes beyond income support.

The entire video can be accessed here.

On the other hand in their latest blog economists, Rohini Pande and Nils Enevoldsen discuss the salience of redistribution policies in poverty and inequality eradication. They contend that country-level catch-up in incomes will not be sufficient to eradicate extreme poverty, as the blessings of this ‘growth’ are not reaching the poor. Inclusive prosperity requires a political solution – redistribution.

Click here to read the full blog.