moderating a session on reducing global inequality

Malaysian Public Policy Competition (MPPC) 2017

I was invited by the International Council of Malaysian Scholars and Associates (ICMS) to moderate a panel of esteemed speakers on the topic of global inequality. The panel was held in tandem with their annual Malaysian Public Policy Competition (MPPC). It was held on 20th August 2017 at Sunway University.

Speakers

1. Dr Chandra Muzaffar (Founder & President, International Movement for a Just World - JUST / Chairman, Board of Trustees, Yayasan 1Malaysia)
2. Dr Kenneth Simler (Senior Economist in Poverty & Equity Global Practice, The World Bank)
3. Mr Ali Salman (Director Research, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs - IDEAS)
4. Zaim Mohzani (Co-Founder, Nation Building School) [Moderator]

Topic: 'Tackling Inequality on a Global Level'

We had a vibrant and insightful session. Some of the points were...

What’s going on?

• Global population defined as ‘poor’ (make less than $2/day) has fallen from 29% to 15% from 2001 to 2011 (Pew Research Centre)
• World has become wealthier -- middle-income bracket (making $10 and $20/day) almost doubled from 7% to 13% (Pew Research Centre)
• 71% of the world owns under $10,000 wealth holds only 3% of global wealth -- 8.1% of global population owning more than $100,000 owning 84.6% of global wealth (Global Wealth Report 2015)
• The world’s 10 richest billionaires own $505 billion in combined wealth, a sum greater than the total goods and services most nations produce on an annual basis -- Nigeria, Belgium, Iran, Norway, Thailand, Austria, UAE, South Africa, Colombia (Forbes)
• Wealth inequality vs income inequality: Gini coefficient (0.72, 1988 -> 0.71, 2008) / absolute Gini coefficient (0.57, 1988 -> 0.72 in 2005)
• “Convergence theory”: poor countries grow at a faster rate than rich countries, over time the gap between the two will automatically diminish
• Maddison project: gap between richest and poorest countries - 33x (1960) -> 134x (2000)

What can we do?
The United Nations has announced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. SDG 10 is specifically on reducing inequality within and among countries. Their goal is by 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average.

Dr Chandra raised a few key points on addressing global inequality:

1. Curb speculations
2. Eliminate tax havens
3. Introduce policy reforms (e.g. universal basic income)
4. Stop wastage, leakages and corruption

Dr Kenneth Simler of the World Bank touched on a few key points, drawing references from WB's Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016 report:

1. Early childhood development and nutrition interventions
2. Universal health coverage
3. Universal access to quality education
4. Cash transfers to poor families
5. Rural infrastructure – especially roads and electrification
6. Progressive taxation

I pointed out a worth case study in Brazil:

• Bolsa Família: trusting poor families with small cash transfers in return for keeping their children in school and attending preventive health care visits (World Bank)
  1. Poverty reduced from 9.7% in 2001 to 4.3% in 2009
  2. Income inequality as measured by Gini coefficient went down to 0.527, a 15% reduction from 2001 to 2011
  3. BF now reaches nearly 14 million households – 50 million people or around 1/4 of the population

Photos will be out soon.