Tuesday 12 November 2019

Growth vs equality: Trade-offs or complements?

 Book launch for ‘Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do about It’ by Heather Boushey

Tuesday 12 November, 6-7.15pm, Resolution Foundation offices, Westminster

The US and UK have among the highest levels of inequality among advanced economies, and have remained stubbornly high across successive governments. Some policymakers have argued that that policies to prevent inequality rising, or to bring it back down, would cause wider harm by reducing economic growth. Other argue that high inequality now holds back growth.

When, if ever, is there a trade-off between reducing inequality and boosting growth? What is the impact of high inequality on our economies? What kind of inequality-reducing policies are coming to the fore of the inclusive growth agenda in the US? And could they work in the UK too?

To explore these questions the Resolution Foundation held an event with one of the leading progressive thinkers in the US, Heather Boushey. Heather was joined by the FT’s Chief Economics Commentator Martin Wolf to discuss her new book Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do about It, before taking part in an audience Q&A.