No dia 26 de Fevereiro, Marcelo Medeiros (Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea)) será o orador convidado de um Seminário do Grupo de Investigação SPARC, com o tema The Rich and the Poor: Income Inequality. A partir das 14h30, na Sala 1 do ICS-ULisboa e online.

Abstract:

I will present ideas on income inequality that are in my book Os Ricos e os Pobres (The Rich and The Poor). I will discuss empirical evidence on inequality and argue that i) income inequality, and therefore distributive conflict, is greater than is generally assumed (in the political debate); ii) for this reason, inequality should be a fundamental aspect of all policies: monetary and fiscal policy, labor legislation, economic growth policies; iii) combating inequality will be expensive, and will consume a large amount of political capital: mass education or highly progressive taxation will not be enough; iv) in all countries, inequality is concentrated at the top. Studying the rich matters more than studying the poor; v) there is not one inequality, but many inequalities. Ignoring this when designing policies is a mistake. The book discusses these ideas succinctly and without resorting to technical language. I intend to replicate this in my presentation.

Short Bio:

Marcelo Medeiros studies social inequalities. He is trained in Sociology and Economics. He is currently on leave from the Institute of Applied Economic Research, Brasilia. He is trained in Economics and Sociology and is currently Senior Researcher on leave at the Institute for Applied Economic Resarch, Ipea, Brasilia. He was previously professor at the University of Brasilia, and taught once a year at UNSAM - Buenos Aires. He has held visiting appointments at Columbia University, Princeton University, Yale Law School, University of California, Berkeley, Sophia University - Tokyo, CNRS - Cermes3 - Paris, the Institute for Human Development - Delhi, Indira Ghandi Institute - Mumbai, and CSC - Cambridge University. He was also a researcher at the International Poverty Centre of the United Nations Development Programme – IPC – Undp. Additionally, he has served as a policy expert for the Brazilian Audit Court (TCU) and as an adviser for the Brazilian National Science Council (CNPq). He has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous books, book chapters and peer-reviewed articles in the areas of social inequality and mobility, demography,
health, education, poverty, development theory, and disability and social protection. In addition, he has won important awards for his research: the Pan American Health Organization’s Fred L. Soper Award for best study in public health, 2012; the National Treasure Prize for studies in Public Sector Economics, 2012 (3rd place); the Anpocs prize for best Brazilian PhD Dissertation in Social Sciences, 2003; a Senate Medal for studies in development, 2000; and an award for best study by undergraduate students at the 1993 Eneco. He is a member of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science and was a member of the research councils of the AUC – Cairo and Fiocruz - Rio.