{
  "title": "Tackling Income Inequality Requires New Policies",
  "publication": "IMF Blog, May 15, 2019",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2019/05/15/blog-tackling-income-inequality-requires-new-policies",
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  "summary": "Publication: May 15, 2019",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Overview",
      "content": "- Publication: May 15, 2019\n- Event context: Roundtable discussion on income inequality opened by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde during the IMF’s 2019 Spring Meetings.\n- Participants: IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde; IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath; World Bank Chief Economist Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg; OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Major findings and observations",
      "content": "- Inequality trends:\n  - “If you look at advanced economies there’s certainly a trend towards an increase in inequality between 1990 and now.”\n  - “But then when you look at emerging and developing economies, it’s more mixed.”\n  - Global income inequality has dramatically decreased over the last several decades, lifting millions out of poverty, while inequality has risen dramatically within countries.\n  - The top one percent owns about half of the world’s wealth.\n- Drivers of growing income inequality identified:\n  - The hollowing out of the middle class\n  - Rising social and political tension\n  - Lack of education\n  - Globalization\n  - Rapid technological change"
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy perspectives and recommendations discussed",
      "content": "- Inclusive growth as a priority:\n  - “Inclusive growth is one of the critical challenges of our time,” — Christine Lagarde.\n  - Focus on promoting growth that benefits all.\n- Human capital and opportunity:\n  - Equity aims to “give everyone a chance to have the potential to do good work; to actually deploy their potential.” — Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg.\n  - Emphasis on addressing inequality of opportunity, not just income, including greater access to technology and better education for rural populations. — Laurence Boone.\n- Gender and inclusion:\n  - “Another way to better address income and inequality is through women…a lot of work that the IMF has done shows that helps.” — Gita Gopinath.\n  - The presence of three women as chief economists at multilateral institutions highlighted as an achievement illustrating the value of inclusive policies.\n- Taxation and redistribution:\n  - Scope to level the playing field among large multinational corporations to ensure firms “pay their fair share of taxes to create value and employ people.” — Laurence Boone.\n  - Redistribution identified as “a channel that hasn’t been used enough.” — Gita Gopinath."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Agreed direction and collective action",
      "content": "- Consensus that not all policies are created equal; policy choice matters for addressing inequality.\n- Call for stepped-up global cooperation to tackle growing inequality:\n  - “What is it we could do differently compared to what has been done in the past?” — Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg.\n  - Panelists agreed that now is the time to increase global cooperation on inequality-related policies.\n- Collaboration and time constraints noted:\n  - “I think if we had five more minutes we would have solved everything.” — Gita Gopinath.\n\nSource: IMF blog — Tackling Income Inequality Requires New Policies (May 15, 2019).\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- Português\n- 2019 Spring Meetings\n- inequality\n- work\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2019/05/15/blog-tackling-income-inequality-requires-new-policies"
    }
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    "Authors: The Editors",
    "Published: May 15, 2019",
    "Publication: May 15, 2019",
    "Event context: Roundtable discussion on income inequality opened by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde during the IMF’s 2019 Spring Meetings.",
    "Participants: IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde; IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath; World Bank Chief Economist Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg; OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone.",
    "Inequality trends:",
    "Drivers of growing income inequality identified:",
    "Inclusive growth as a priority:",
    "Human capital and opportunity:",
    "Gender and inclusion:",
    "Taxation and redistribution:",
    "Consensus that not all policies are created equal; policy choice matters for addressing inequality.",
    "Call for stepped-up global cooperation to tackle growing inequality:",
    "Collaboration and time constraints noted:",
    "[Português](https://www.imf.org/pt/News/Articles/2019/05/15/blog-tackling-income-inequality-requires-new-policies)",
    "[2019 Spring Meetings](https://meetings.imf.org/en/2019/Spring/Schedule/2019/04/13/imf-three-chief-economists)",
    "[inequality](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fad/inequality/)",
    "[work](https://www.imf.org/external/themes/gender/)"
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