Inequalities in Emerging Economies: What role for Labour Market and Social Policies?

The OECD held a one-day workshop in Paris in May 2010 to present the findings of a series of papers commissioned on this topic from Brazil, India, China and South Africa. Kate Philip was there.

For South Africans attending the OECD conference, watching the comparative slides on global trends flashing up on the screen is a bit like attending a performance review that you know you have failed.
‘Inequality got worse since the end of apartheid? What happened?’ asked an incredulous panelist. The South Africans present looked contrite.
By contrast, Brazil has reversed its trend of rising inequality for the first time since they started to track inequality in 1960. ‘People had come to think of rising inequality as a natural state of affairs, as how thing are,’ explained Brazilian panelist Marcelo Cortes Nero; ‘Now it is clear policy action can make a difference.

For further information on the Conference, check out:

http://www.oecd.org/document/16/0,3343,en_33873108_39418537_44835280_1_1_1_1,00.html