Wealth Gap Widening in LAC

• The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the world's most unequal region with the 10% highest earners making 12 times more than the poorest 10%.
• It noted that this compares to a ratio of 4 for developed countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In addition, the Washington-based financial institution said one in five citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean is poor.
• The bank noted that between 1990 and 2014, the region saw its inequality reduced, but it said progress since has stalled.
• 'Governments need better evidence on how to tackle this problem, which has different causes and drivers in each of the region's countries,' it said, noting that it had teamed up with the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and academics from more a dozen leading universities to launch a comprehensive rethink of the inequality problem through critical reviews of the literature, new data, and new analyses.
• These new studies indicate that wealth inequality seems to be deeper than income inequality in the region. Many low-income households have negative equity because their outstanding debts are greater than the value of their home, vehicles and other assets.
• 'Traditional strategies such as expanding and improving the quality of education and offering cash assistance to low-income households can be effective but not sufficient. Governments must promote economic growth that can generate more productive (and formal) jobs and adopt smarter, more adaptive fiscal policies.'

 (Source: Trinidad Express Newspaper)