write your views/opinion in brief on the topic steps to be taken to eradicate inequality
Answers
MENU
Fernando Bonilla, November 8, 2016
Nine strategies to reduce inequality
The United Nations declared the 17th of October as the day for the eradication of poverty. This year the topic was “ending poverty in all its forms”, as it is stated in the Sustainable Development Goal #1, from the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
Eradicating poverty is feasible. Alongside the Millennium Development Goals, extreme poverty (the proportion of people whose income is less than $1.25 a day) was reduced by half even before 2015. However, the new commitment is more ambitious and challenging than before. It considers using measures of multidimensional poverty to track the progress on poverty eradication. The recognition of the multidimensional, and multi-causal, character of poverty is a big step in public policy, and a strong manifestation of commitment by national governments.
Through the deconstruction of poverty, inequality emerges as a primary issue. According to Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, inequality is hardly new in human history but, now, it is destabilizing global collaboration in ways that put humanity’s most critical achievements and aspirations at risk. Books such as Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, Angus Deaton’s “The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality” and Branko Milanovic’s “Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization” promoted this renewed interest in understanding inequality and its implication to poverty.
Inequality is usually associated to an unequal distribution of resources and, therefore, it is related to the gap between the rich and the poor. It also relates to an unequal access to opportunities or benefits from economic activity. In the best case scenario, this unequal distribution is associated to talent or effort; but, in most cases, it is the result of institutional structures that create social barriers based on: sex, age, ethnicity, social status, among other variables that define individuals’ initial conditions.
Among its documented effects, inequality can lead to social tensions, discrimination, poverty traps, erosion of social capital, regional imbalances, and an unfair access to justice. It also prevents people from obtaining fair benefits from economic activities. Therefore, fighting inequality will open doors to opportunities that are taken from groups traditionally excluded from development. Preventing inequality can help promote social capital and stimulate the economy.
In this order of ideas, governmental and non-governmental efforts have taken place in order to improve welfare by reducing inequality.
The following are some examples of how inequality can be reduced by implementing institutional arrangements on the field of fiscal, social, and economic policy:
Answer:
Sign up for our weekly newsletter- the latest horror, humor, and hope around economic inequality in your inbox every Monday.
INEQUALITY
Eight Ways To Reduce Global Inequality
By taxing progressively, respecting worker rights, and rethinking economics, we could make a great start at creating a more equal world.
BLOGGING OUR GREAT DIVIDE
FEBRUARY 11, 2015
by Nick Galasso & Marjorie Wood
Extreme economic inequality is corrosive to our societies. It makes poverty reduction harder, hurts our economies, and drives conflict and violence. Reversing this trend presents a significant challenge, but one where we’ve seen some progress. Below we offer eight ways to move the world forward in reducing global inequality.
1. Stop Illicit Outflows
In developing countries, inadequate resourcing for health, education, sanitation, and investment in the poorest citizens drives extreme inequality. One reason is tax avoidance and other illicit outflows of cash. According to Global Financial Integrity, developing countries lost $6.6 trillionin illicit financial flows from 2003 through 2012, with illicit outflows increasing at an average rate of 9.4 percent per year. That’s $6.6 trillion that could reduce poverty and inequality through investments in human capital, infrastructure, and economic growth.
2. Progressive Income Tax
After falling for much of the 20th century, inequality is worsening in rich countries today. The top one percent is not only capturing larger shares of national income, but tax rates on the highest incomes have also dropped. How much should the highest income earners be taxed? This is obviously a question to be decided domestically by citizens, and opinions differ. For instance, economist Tony Addison suggests a top rate of 65 percent rate on the top 1 percent of incomes.
3. A Global Wealth Tax?
In Capital in the Twenty-first Century , Thomas Piketty recommends an international agreement establishing a wealth tax. Under his plan, countries would agree to tax personal assets of all kinds at graduated rates. The skeptics do have a point about whether this particular plan is practical, but we shouldn’t give up on the idea. Because wealth tends to accumulate over generations, fair and well-designed wealth taxes would go a long way towards combating extreme inequality.
4. Enforce a Living Wage
Governments should establish and enforce a national living wage, and corporations should also prioritize a living wage for their workers and with the suppliers, buyers, and others with whom they do business. Low and unlivable wages are a result of worker disempowerment and concentration of wealth at the top—hallmarks of unequal societies. As human beings with basic needs, all workers should earn enough to support themselves and their families. Governments and corporations should be responsible for protecting the right to a living wage, corporations should commit to responsible behavior that respects the dignity of all workers.
5. Workers’ Right to Organize
The right of workers to organize has always been a cornerstone of more equal societies, and should be prioritized and protected wherever this basic right is violated. Extreme inequality requires the disempowerment of workers. Therefore, the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively for better pay and conditions is a global human rights priority. Despite Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights— which declares the right to organize as a fundamental human right—workers worldwide, including in the United States, still face intimidation, fear, and retribution for attempting to organize collectively. Where unions are strong, wages are higher and inequality is lower.