The Future of Inequality│Abhijit Banerjee(MIT, Professor of Economics)

Disparities in all areas of life - income and wealth, health, education, housing, and more - are growing and squeezing the lives of the majority. Inequality and polarization is a problem in both rich and poor countries. South Korea is no exception. South Korea's income/wealth imbalance has been sharply increasing over the past decade, leading to an extreme sense of self-doubt among those without assets (especially younger generations) that this life is doomed.
The inheritance of wealth, especially as baby boomers retire in droves after amassing the greatest wealth in human history, is likely to accelerate inequality in the future. In a world where inherited wealth, rather than individual effort and ability, is the primary determinant of an individual's life, some fear that income disparity could threaten social stability in the future.
MIT Professor Abhijit Banerjee is an economist who believes in "good economics in hard times. Winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, he is leading the global discourse on inequality. In this session, he will be in conversation with Yoonjae Whang, Professor of Economics at Seoul National University, who has used econometrics to understand the causes and solutions to some of the most pressing socio-economic issues, including optimal asset allocation, income inequality, youth poverty, and aging. The session will offer insights into inequality, including whether blindly chasing high economic growth rates is desirable and whether a universal "basic income" is appropriate for South Korean society. #inequality
#abhijit #economics

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[bikramsen]

These levels of inequality is the root of most of the problems in country after country.

[abcd]

India too is a prominent example of inequality in every aspect of life, be it income disparity, societal inequality, gender inequality and many other issues and challenges....still the middle class is burdened with high taxes both with direct and indirect taxes...and they are getting simply nothing in the name of tax....

[georgethomas]

00:05 Professor Banerjee discusses the past of inequality.
03:02 Inequality at historical highs in many countries
08:32 Inequality was claimed to be necessary for growth
11:13 Inequality does not promote growth
16:20 Inequality is not essential for sustaining growth
18:19 Inequality is increasing due to rising profits of companies.
22:38 Global agreement to ban tax havens
24:50 Discussing policy solutions for global inequality
29:38 Personal experience with poverty in childhood inspired interest in development economics
31:48 The elderly population in Korea faces significant income inequality and poverty.
36:31 Inequality may decrease as growth slows down due to demographic changes
38:49 Historical patterns of integration and prejudice
43:09 We need to keep trying and find solutions for the world.

[pbghosh]

Very clear. That's the way the world has moved from 1980 onwards, following over and excessive insistance on monetization of economy as only panacea to fix agreegate economics. Besides, there is another factor, namely, the objective failures of financial institutions like the World Bank, IMF, and WTO, particularly, that enhanced the perpetuation of inequality everywhere. Prof. Dr. Banerjee has thrown a new light on social mobility issue. I'm from his city of birth and growing up neighbourhood. 🎉

[MyHanck]

The problem and solution are both in the human heart .

[libshastra]

Basically Abhijeet Banarjee wants to tackle income inequality by:
- taxing unrealized gains (future potential profit)
- getting rid of "tax subsidies" for investment when he also generously funded through tax subsidies (he is amongst the top 1% of US academics - filthy rich)
- want to kill growth so that we all stay poorer together. BTW, Bihar, India's poorest state has a GINI index comparable to Sweden but everyone in Bihar is equally poor.
- Wants to tax use AI because it is trendy in progressive circles. He has previously made similar statements regarding older tech.

Also this guy is making political statements rather than academic ones. Wages will raise because there are less workers is pure lies, it has never worked in Japan or Korea, where wages have been stagnant. Entire Euro zone has seen wage stagnation because of ageing population. Mild Inflation drives wage growth, consumption drives investments, without either there is no positive loop of asset creation hence no wage growth.

Besides pre-1991 India was chasing income inequality rather than growth (Heck even previous Finance Ministers have admitted the same). In the name of income inequality, we had high taxes, high social spending endemic corruption (Corruption in India was way worse). It kept everyone equally poor. Also, middle class in 1970s Delhi means you were pretty rich, politically well connected and privileged. You had access to 24/7 electricity, water, police, fire and hospitals. Access to high quality schools - Kendriya Vidyalayas had the best teachers in the country but it was only available to Govt employees and academics. While the rest of population had to suffer through some of the worst conditions of poverty and corruption.
Of course, as a 70s Delhi academic, you lived in an island paradise in the middle of a sea of slums and poverty but you also lived safely behind a huge 2 storey compound wall. The guy was born in absolute privilege and we are taking advice from such a person.

The focus on growth after 1991 is what helped lift millions out of dilapidated poverty, letting folks reinvest their gain rather than taxing it, what helped make people and their communities rich. Moving away from that will be a disaster.

[arandmorgan]

We have a permanent growth economic model. It is no longer sustainable or stable. We need an economic model that focuses on efficiency in distribution, and stable resource preservation as a priority.

[TheRakeshgautam]

I think now less numbers of people are starving to death due to poverty, only thing we have to make sure is that everyone should live a dignified life without facing crimes. We must have a robust system where wealthy people should not be able to annihilate natural resources. Since natural resources can not be manufactured by feeding money.

[JohnChampagne]

It's far too easy to predict with high confidence that a discussion among economists about inequality will include *no mention* of the idea of sharing natural wealth equally.

A policy of charging fees to industries proportional to emissions, resource extraction or habitat destruction, with proceeds shared equally, would promote sustainability and end poverty. Why is this not part of the public discourse?

[khurshidakram]

Understood inequality much better than ever. Also the consequences of AI on the mid-level work force. Thanks Prof. Abhijeet Banerjee.

[satyamsundaram]

So well explained. If governments, do not pay heed to this research and do not decide full heartedly reduce the in equality in a targeted way, the continuity of growth in equality is going to be hara kiri of human civilization. All out measures from every individual and system is required.

[ShubhamSingh-etze]

Being an Indian citizen, I know what sir went through, I know things are better but trust me when I say the poorest of poor are struggling to meet basic needs. While bjp govt is only facilitating big company holders like Ambani and adani, the day is not far when poor people start starving to death

[roopnarainpersaud]

With all his brilliance there is more inequalty and poverty today.

[parks]

The Korean professor is bombarding with questions to this professor with too many issues of Korea.

[GeorgeMonsour]

Scale is a parameter of humanity. In the '60s there were 6000 international food companies. Now there are 5. The concentration of management is more of a catastrophe than population growth. Our agility is no longer annual but generational. Btw there were no management schools in the '60s either. MBA's have basically ruined equality and ingenuity.

[somdevraomadala]

Prof.Banerji is simply is a great fountain of knowledge. Very very WORTHY listening him.

[natasasankar]

Without defining what equality or equilibrium means, how can people effectively discuss inequality? By definition, one might suggest distributing wealth to everyone. But how is this a practically feasible solution in the real world? It’s difficult to understand how highly educated individuals at prestigious universities can earn substantial salaries for their lectures while also discussing inequality.

[yybsush]

Even a layperson like me was able to identify the first 2 reasons, low tax for the rich and high executive salaries and we all know about rich people evading even the tax that is due by using loopholes. The rationale of the CEOs is that they deserve high lat, then shouldn't they bear consequences for going bankrupt and taking funds from tax layers money again ? Shouldn't they return what they took in the years of their tenure ?

[tapasmahato]

Inequality is by the design and desire of our society

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