The inequality debate

A discussion of global inequality, and how it can be tackled without hurting economic growth.

As emerging markets such as China and India grow, the gap in global inequality is narrowing. But within many of these countries and those that are more developed the gap between rich and poor is widening, in some countries to a shocking degree. In the US which has one of the highest levels of inequality in the West, the richest 10% of Americans receive about half of the nation’s income.

In a time when economic growth is slowing and governments are advocating fiscal austerity, is the question of inequality being factored in to the equation? Join us as we discuss the problem of inequality globally, and how it can be tackled without hurting economic growth. We will be examining the detrimental effects of inequality of opportunity on social mobility and asking what should be done by governments to counter it.

With:

Paul Mason, BBC Newsnight’s economic editor.

Chris Johnes, the Director of Oxfam’s UK Poverty Programme, leading work to tackle growing levels of poverty and inequality in England, Wales and Scotland. This year, Oxfam published ‘The Perfect Storm’ report, which assessed the impact of government deficit reduction and warned that we could be returning to levels of inequality in the UK not seen since Victorian times.

Ann Pettifor, a leading author and commentator on economic affairs, she is director of Prime (Policy Research in Macroeconomics) and a fellow of the New Economics Foundation.

Alex Cobham, head of Research at Save the Children, and co-author of their new report Born Equal. He was previously Chief Policy Adviser at Christian Aid, Supernumerary Fellow in Economics at St Anne’s College, Oxford, and a researcher at Queen Elizabeth House (the University of Oxford’s Department of International Development).

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