The Chartbook of Economic Inequality

Inequality – long ignored – is now centre stage in debate about economic policy around the globe. This column introduces the Chartbook of Economic Inequality, a summary of long-run changes in economic inequality for 25 countries over more than 100 years.

Inequality – long ignored – is now centre stage in debate about economic policy around the globe. The 2007-2008 collapse of the global financial system and the subsequent economic downturn/debt crises have acted as a catalyst for growing anxiety around the increasing dispersion of incomes within most advanced economies. We are not “all in it together”. The acute loss of job prospects, especially among the young, the credit crunch and the austerity measures implemented by governments to contain the sovereign debt crisis have all put extra burden on the shoulders of the lower and middle classes. Public discourse has started to openly debate the economic implications as well as the legitimacy of increasingly powerful elites seizing a growing share of the national pie year after year. These concerns, led the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to indicate the need for “addressing inequality and building inclusive growth” as one of three ‘milestones’ of the future global economy, in her October 2012 Annual Meetings Speech in Tokyo.

Σχετικές αναρτήσεις:

• Τσούκαλης, Λ. (2014) “The Unhappy State of the Union: Europe Needs a New Grand Bargain“, Policy Network: Λονδίνο.
• Ostry, J. & Berg, A. (2014) “Treating Inequality with Redistribution: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease?”, ΙMFdirect Blog , 26 Φεβρουαρίου.
• International Monetary Fund (2014) “Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality“, IMF Policy Paper, 23 Ιανουαρίου.