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The Costs of Inequality in Latin America: Lessons and Warnings for the Rest of the World
From the United States to the United Kingdom and from China to India, growing inequality has led to social discontent and the emergence of populist parties, also contributing to economic crises. We urgently need a better understanding of the roots and costs of these income gaps. The Costs of Inequality draws on the experience of Latin America, one of the most unequal regions of the world, to demonstrate how inequality has hampered economic growth, contributed to a lack of good jobs, weakened democracy, and led to social divisions and mistrust.
In turn, low growth, exclusionary politics, violence and social mistrust have reinforced inequality, generating various vicious circles. Latin America thus provides a disturbing image of what the future may hold in other countries if we do not act quickly. It also provides some useful lessons on how to fight income concentration and build more equitable societies.
In turn, low growth, exclusionary politics, violence and social mistrust have reinforced inequality, generating various vicious circles. Latin America thus provides a disturbing image of what the future may hold in other countries if we do not act quickly. It also provides some useful lessons on how to fight income concentration and build more equitable societies.
224 pages, Paperback
Published December 10, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 21, 2024
A broad discussion about the inequality in Latin America, while a lot of them can be scalable.
Economic costs of inequality———
Inequality causes make elite driven economic hard to have incentives to innovate, education and technology stagnant and don’t have enough tax to fund social services.
It is generally very difficult to tax the economic elite, they tend to urge the government to make exemptions.
Political cost of the inequality———
Latin America has shown many interesting shift of political systems based on the interaction between powerful elites and a dissatisfied low-income majority——populism.
The example of Peron illustrates the tradeoff between socioeconomic redistribution and democracy in unequal contexts, although he placed so much emphasis on labor rights, but the efforts are somehow impossible to reach if he is not a dictator. He elevated the electoral rate but simultaneously triggered political instability and institutional volatility.
The rich doesn’t support the real democracy in order to maintain their money. The poor respond with populism and make society chaotic. The intellectual elite replaces the poor to stand at the left wing, left no place for the poor ppl in the political spectrum, that’s why RN and trump can win.
(Argentina, Chile and Uruguay also have their own truncated social services that only a privileged minority received quality services and generous transfers)
Social cost of the inequality———
Segregation, mistrust, violence
Suggestion:
Three approaches——
allocation of wealth and education, (tax)
changing the way market functioning, ()
redistributing more income more efficiently
Policies without politics will never work—— deeper democracy, stronger progressive parties, and more active social movements
Economic costs of inequality———
Inequality causes make elite driven economic hard to have incentives to innovate, education and technology stagnant and don’t have enough tax to fund social services.
It is generally very difficult to tax the economic elite, they tend to urge the government to make exemptions.
Political cost of the inequality———
Latin America has shown many interesting shift of political systems based on the interaction between powerful elites and a dissatisfied low-income majority——populism.
The example of Peron illustrates the tradeoff between socioeconomic redistribution and democracy in unequal contexts, although he placed so much emphasis on labor rights, but the efforts are somehow impossible to reach if he is not a dictator. He elevated the electoral rate but simultaneously triggered political instability and institutional volatility.
The rich doesn’t support the real democracy in order to maintain their money. The poor respond with populism and make society chaotic. The intellectual elite replaces the poor to stand at the left wing, left no place for the poor ppl in the political spectrum, that’s why RN and trump can win.
(Argentina, Chile and Uruguay also have their own truncated social services that only a privileged minority received quality services and generous transfers)
Social cost of the inequality———
Segregation, mistrust, violence
Suggestion:
Three approaches——
allocation of wealth and education, (tax)
changing the way market functioning, ()
redistributing more income more efficiently
Policies without politics will never work—— deeper democracy, stronger progressive parties, and more active social movements
January 19, 2021
The author employs a case study approach (rather than the usual tsunami of data) to explore the: (i) causes; (ii) transmission channels; and (iii) economic, political, and social costs of inequality in Latin America. The latter three elements combine to form a vicious circle that intensifies debilitating gaps in opportunities, income, and wealth that have widened over time and perpetuated the region’s place as the most unequal in the world.
In reading Chapter 4 (The Political Costs of Inequality), one could not avoid being struck by the similarities between the restrictive democracy and bias towards populism that have plagued Latin America and the political environment that the outgoing US President has attempted to create (or strengthen). That the US does not go down that route any further.
An excellent work. Strongly recommended.
In reading Chapter 4 (The Political Costs of Inequality), one could not avoid being struck by the similarities between the restrictive democracy and bias towards populism that have plagued Latin America and the political environment that the outgoing US President has attempted to create (or strengthen). That the US does not go down that route any further.
An excellent work. Strongly recommended.
July 4, 2021
Old recipes that have proven they wont work
I strongly agree that the lack of education in Latin Amerika is to be solved ASAP, it the THE problem of Latam. Education creates opportunity for all. But the rest of the proposed 'solutions' in this book have been applied heavily in the last decennia and have made from Latin Amerika the mess it is right now. There is an urgent need for a more open, and thus more competitive economy (the poor and low incomes dont even have access to modern technology at normal pricing!), and the 'rich' should be able to feel safe without having to worry about confiscation day in day out, so they dont have to keep their savings abroad. Unions in Latam are corrupt!
I strongly agree that the lack of education in Latin Amerika is to be solved ASAP, it the THE problem of Latam. Education creates opportunity for all. But the rest of the proposed 'solutions' in this book have been applied heavily in the last decennia and have made from Latin Amerika the mess it is right now. There is an urgent need for a more open, and thus more competitive economy (the poor and low incomes dont even have access to modern technology at normal pricing!), and the 'rich' should be able to feel safe without having to worry about confiscation day in day out, so they dont have to keep their savings abroad. Unions in Latam are corrupt!
December 24, 2020
Apparently Sanchez is very upset that not all South and Central American countries have gulags. Luckily for the reader, he knows just the right people to make any country a Venezuela.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews