Question

Dr Brodkin poverty, inquality, and role of government.

At least two pages summery of her presntation!

PLEASE HELP!

Answer 1

Introduction:-

The debate on the relationship between poverty, inequality and economic growth is characterized by confusion and strong, polarized positions. Some consider economic growth to be the key for the reduction of poverty, while others argue that it tends to lead to marginalization and greater inequality and poverty. These positions reflect two major historical stands in the discussion about the causes of poverty. First, the ‘developmentalist position’, which explains poverty in terms of lack of economic advancement, normally equated with insufficient economic growth. Second, ‘class-based’ (and Marxist inspired) theories, which view poverty as a result of uneven development and exploitation, resulting in skewed asset and income distribution. According to the first view, the income poverty problem is solved by making the ‘cake’ (total income or Gross Domestic Product – GDP) bigger, while the second argues the problem should be addressed by giving the poor a bigger share of the cake.

WHY GROWTH SHOULD BE AT THE HEART OF DEVELOPMENT POLICY

‘Historically nothing has worked better than economic growth in enabling societies to improve the life chances of their members, including those at the very bottom.’

Poverty reduction = growth + distributional change

Growth transforms society :- The positive link between growth and poverty reduction is clear. The impact of the distribution of income on this relationship – in particular, whether higher inequality lessens the reduction in poverty generated by growth.

Growth creates jobs:-    Economic growth generates job opportunities and hence stronger demand for labour, the main and often the sole asset of the poor. In turn, increasing employment has been crucial in delivering higher growth. Strong growth in the global economy over the past 10 years means that the majority of the world’s working-age population is now in employment.

Growth drives human development:-    Economic growth is not just associated with reducing poverty. There is also clear evidence for a positive link between economic growth and broader measures of human development.

Good governance:-: Clear legislation and transparent government policies that rights of poor people over land and resources are important in creating benefits for the poor. In regard to the use of high value natural resources – such as timber – an important negative example is the extraction of high rent products from rich natural forests, where valuable economic rents (defined here, as high profits from exploiting natural resources) are often captured by elites who manage to influence policies and rules in their favour. Specifically, it has been shown that a high incidence of corruption has a strongly anti-poor effect

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Growth drives human development Economic growth is not just associated with reducing poverty. There is also clear evidence for a positive link between economic growth and broader measures of human development.