Essay

Income inequality and the liberal economic order: a not entirely Western perspective

This essay argues that global welfare gains should be safeguarded and built on, not undermined by a blinkered perception of liberalism.

Publishing date
25 April 2024
Authors
Shekhar Aiyar
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The liberal economic order of market-based economic activity, free-as-possible trade and rules-based internationalism is under pressure. Calls for more protectionism arise in particular from a perception of the gains being concentrated in too few hands, with income inequality on the rise. But seen from a global perspective, income inequality has reduced markedly, especially because of economic reform in China and India. This essay argues that global welfare gains should be safeguarded and built on, not undermined by a blinkered perception of liberalism’s malign impact on economic inequality.

About the authors

  • Shekhar Aiyar

    Shekhar Aiyar is a Non-resident Fellow at Bruegel, a Visiting Scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Visiting Professor at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

    Until August 2023 he held a number of senior positions in the International Monetary Fund, most recently as Division Chief in the Research Department, where he helped coordinate the Fund’s monitoring of the global economy and liaised with international groups such as the G-20 and G-7. Previously he served as Mission Chief for Germany and Head of the Euro Area Division. From 2009-2011 he was seconded to the Bank of England, where he studied cross-border bank flows and helped set up the macro-prudential regime.

    His research interests encompass open economy macroeconomics, international finance, growth empirics and test cricket. Recent work has focused on the likelihood and possible consequences of geo-economic fragmentation. He has published in the Journal of Financial Economics, American Economic Review, European Economic Review, IMF Economic Review, Journal of Economic Growth, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, and Economic Policy. He holds an MA in Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University.

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Repository of what we consider to be the most relevant macroeconomic data for China and EU-China relations.

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