The Economy Journal - Inequality

Liberals against inequality in Latin America

Thu, 28 May 2015 13:12:34 +0200

Juan Carlos Hidalgo. Policy analyst on Latin America at the Centre for Global Liberty and Prosperity at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC

The debate on inequality promises to dominate this year's political discussion. In Washington, President Obama made the issue the centrepiece of his State of the Union address. In Davos, political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum discussed the challenges of the growing disparity of income in developed countries. And in Havana, Latin American presidents stressed their commitment to fight this scourge during the CELAC summit.

Liberalism and state violence. Notes on clandestine contracts

Thu, 28 May 2015 13:06:13 +0200

Ezequiel Adamovsky. Doctor in History from University College London (UCL)

A few weeks ago in the newspaper Clarin responded to a writer who argued that liberalism was the "heart" of democracy. My argument, which was to the contrary, caused several replies to be fired from liberals who were offended. In this text I would like to extend the meaning of my discourse, making available to the public some of the arguments raised by specialists in the history of liberal tradition (generally very little known by the militants of that persuasion).

The great inequality crisis

Thu, 28 May 2015 13:00:26 +0200

Jaime Atienza. Director of Campaigns and Citizenship at Oxfam Intermón

A year ago, 85 people had accumulated as much wealth as half of humanity. In a single year, there were only 80 people who together had as much as 3,500 million others. And in 2016, 1% of the world population will accumulate as much wealth as the remaining 99%; 70 million people have as much as 7,000 million. Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, would need to live more than 200 years spending a million dollars a day to exhaust his fortune.

Inequality beyond poverty

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:56:30 +0200

Sandra León. Doctor of Political Sciences and professor at the University of York (UK)

Inequality corrodes the European project. Thus preached an article in El País, referring to the overwhelming evidence of increasing inequality in Europe. It may that at this point in time the data on the economic gap between individuals and countries does not surprise anyone. The effects of the crisis on the gap between rich and poor are so glaring in the statistics as they are in the reality of every citizen who steps out onto the street. Impoverishment is the first and most direct consequence of the unequal distribution of the burdens imposed by austerity policies, but what are the consequences of inequality beyond poverty?

Power to the Piketties

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:47:48 +0200

Nancy Folbre. Economist

While confessing her admiration for Thomas Piketty, American economist Nancy Folbre has three objections to his theories. What is the impact of labour inequalities on class conflicts? What part do gender-based differences play? And lastly, aren't economic inequalities between nations even more problematic than those between individuals?

The socially inclusive imperative: new growth to restore global economic resilience

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:43:14 +0200

Roberto Martínez Yllescas. OECD specialist in public policy and competitiveness

After realizing that the world has gone through the worst economic crisis since the Great Recession of 1929, conventional formulas of economic recovery -from a perspective dominated by macro-financial canon- suffer a corresponding crisis of credibility. This, in turn, translates into a growing scepticism about market equality and the rationality that sustains them. The consequences of the lacklustre growth of the last five years also leads to rethinking the foundations of the social pact that supports the foundation of the historically most robust economies in the West. Endemic unemployment, inequality and the accelerated erosion of confidence in the efficiency of economic institutions are only a symptom of a deeper dilemma between equity and growth.

A pillar of neoliberalism wobbles

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:37:28 +0200

Roberto Savio. Founder of the IPS news agency and publisher of Other News

In this column, which is published by Journalists in Spanish, Roberto Savio said that whilst the effects of the collapse of the financial system remain serious and forecasts for the future are bleak, a study by the International Monetary Fund has unexpectedly made an objection to a fundamental principle of liberal doctrine. According to the biggest organisation of workers, representative trade unions that increased government spending would help reduce inequality within countries.

Is inequality growing in Spain? What are the prospects?

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:31:22 +0200

J. Ruiz-Huerta. Professor of Applied Economics (Public Finance) University Rey Juan Carlos of Madrid and collaborator of the Alternatives Foundation

Concern about inequality has grown significantly after the crisis period suffered in the countries of southern Europe, particularly in Spain. During the earlier periods of expansion, it was not a central issue and of particular concern among citizens or among economists. Arguably even bewitched by the functioning of markets and competition and the continued growth of GDP, many economists believe that the subject of inequality was a minor issue, the subject of attention more appropriate to other scientific disciplines and not deserving of special attention from the economic point of view.

Family, social structure and inequality

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:24:58 +0200

José Saturnino Martínez García. Degree in Political Science and Sociology (UCM)

The unit of study of social inequality are not individuals, they are households. Decisions on investment, spending or entering the labour market are made by people according to the characteristics of the households in which they live. The dynamics of the formation and reconfiguration of households can affect economic inequality and processes of poverty and social exclusion. For example, some argue that the increasing economic inequality experienced in recent decades in many OECD countries may be related to new ways of forming couples.

Growing wage dispersion increases income inequality

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:18:30 +0200

Carlos Mulas-Granados. Professor of Applied Economics at the Computense University

In the past five years, concerns about increasing income inequality have been at the centre of economic policy debates. There is one area though that has remained relatively unexplored. This is the area that deals with the relationship between the labour share of income and personal income inequality. Income inequality refers to the personal distribution of income, and the labour share refers to the remuneration of employees in total factor income (value added) in a given year. When one looks at these two series, the visual impact is striking. For example, between 1970 and 2012 the labour share in G7 countries declined on average by 12 percent while income inequality increased by 25 percent.

Educational inequality and the opportunities crisis

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:14:27 +0200

Juan Carlos Solano Lucas. Professor at the University of Murcia

We've spent years listening to the media and from various international and national agencies, that the state is inefficient, that it is more efficient that private companies manage public resources, that the Social State is not sustainable, entrepreneurs risk much, it is not feasible to maintain the welfare state, it is not even profitable, etc...

The Red Cross urges companies to hire people over 45 years to avoid social exclusion

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:10:19 +0200

Antoni Aguilera Rodríguez. President of the Red Cross in Catalonia

Skills are the main criterion that should prevail when hiring. This is a statement which may seem common sense, but unfortunately, we have to repeat again and again, because the reality is quite different. In the twenty-first century, we still are forced to reiterate that people should not be discriminated against in the labour market for reasons of age, gender, origin or ideology.

Inequality and cooperatives

Thu, 28 May 2015 12:05:12 +0200

Marta Soler. PhD from Harvard and professor of sociology at the University of Barcelona
Iñaki Santa Cruz. Professor of Business Economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona

In the article, we consider the effect of cooperatives on reducing inequalities and their contribution to achieving a more egalitarian and less vulnerable societies.

Unequal Barcelona

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:55:38 +0200

Peru Erroteta. Journalist

In a recent Fedea report -in which fifteen of the most important companies in the country are reported, including banks- on "personal income of Spanish municipalities and their distribution," Barcelona was in the cities with most inequality in Spain. The same conclusion was reached by the report released late last year on household income (RDF) per capita in the neighbourhoods of Barcelona in 2012, compared to 2011, prepared by the City Council. In Barcelona, the high profits on capital income and property contrast with the greater long-term unemployment and depletion of social benefits.

Causes and limits of inequality

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:52:24 +0200

Juan Ignacio Palacio Morena. Professor of Applied Economics

We need to clarify that inequality is a relative concept. It emanates from a comparison between different subjects and situations. In addition, it depends on what you want to measure and how you measure it. The most widespread notion is based on disposable monetary income. Usually it measures how that income is distributed by establishing population segments, starting with the lowest level of income, and observing what portion of income belong to each segment. The most common indicator in this regard is the so-called Gini index. It calculates the distance between the proportions of population under consideration, which represents available income. If there is any difference, that is, if each one bears the same proportion of income, the rate is zero (absolute equality). On the contrary, when income is fully concentrated, a group or person has everything and others have nothing, the value of the Gini index is one. Hence, the closer to zero the index, the lower the inequality (and the greater the equality); and conversely, as it approaches one, inequality grows.

The real causes of inequality in Latin America

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:46:30 +0200

Carlos Sabino. Sociologist and Historian

Like many others, the issue of inequality has its history. Until a few hundred years ago, inequality -the only thing that mattered in reality- was the so-called inequality or difference of conditions. Society was still divided into rigid parts that prevented the mobility of people: you were born a noble or a commoner, Indian, black or mulatto, and you would remain there, in that social strip that had rigid walls, and within which you had to live your whole life. It is not such a bad thing to remember this, because even during much of the twentieth century and in many parts of the world, this situation repeats itself, inherited from ancient times.

"It is the economy stupid"? Neoliberalism and inequality

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:41:23 +0200

Rodrigo Fernandez Miranda. Teacher, consultant and social researcher

As in Latin America in the last three decades of the twentieth century, the implementation of neoliberal policies in southern Europe is producing an unprecedented acceleration of inequalities in their territories. The text proposes illustrate the scenario of inequalities in the Spanish State, and to investigate its causes and consequences, beyond the economy.

The invisible phenomenon

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:35:58 +0200

Joaquín Santo. Degree in Hispanic Studies and Diploma in Social Work

Our society is unable to perceive the problem of inequality. A few years ago, before the crisis, when we believed that we lived in the best of all possible worlds, the invisibility of inequality might be understandable. However, it is far more difficult to understand that nothing has changed in this perception after continued increase in their numbers in recent years, the increasing importance given to it in the media and even political spaces and on top of all that, there has been a significant impact on the daily lives of millions of people.

Inequality

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:29:29 +0200

Carmen P. Flores. Journalist

Under normal conditions, although inequality exists, it is less noticeable. However, in times of crisis it is so great, manifest and cruel that it cannot leave anyone indifferent.