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SECTION 1 2 3
WHAT CAN BE DONE
THE HIGH ROAD OR THE LOW ROAD
Inequality is not inevitable, but the result of policy choices. In this section, we
explore some of the deliberate policy choices that have been and are currently
being taken by governments that have affected inequality.
The choice which governments face, to move towards or away from inequality,
is illustrated first by two fictional articles, each of which describes a potential
future for Ghana as the Economist magazine may describe it in 2040.
The report then focuses on four key areas where strong policy action can help
to tackle inequality: work and wages, taxation, public services, and economic
policies that can specifically tackle gender inequality.
The section finishes by looking at the kind of progressive political change that
is necessary to ensure that governments break the stranglehold of special
interests, and act in favour of the majority of citizens and of society as a whole.
Action can be taken to reverse the trends that are fuelling today’s yawning
gap between rich and poor, the powerless and the powerful. The world needs
concerted action to build a fairer economic and political system that values
the many over the few. The rules and systems that have led to today’s extreme
economic inequality must change, with action taken to level the playing field
by implementing policies that redistribute both wealth and power.
“
Without deliberate
policy interventions, high
levels of inequality tend
to be self-perpetuating.
They lead to the
development of political
and economic institutions
that work to maintain
the political, economic and
social privileges of the elite.
UNRISD 316
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