Inequality and Public Policy

Bhanoji Rao is presently Governing Board Member, GITAM, and IFHE, India. He was a faculty member at the University of Singapore (1967–1978), National University of Singapore (1985–2001), and the LKY School of Public Policy (2009–2011). He served as a World Bank Economist during 1979–1985. He has authored and edited several books and monographs, as well as several journal articles. Suresh K.G. teaches economics at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. He holds a PhD in the area of Economics and an MPhil in the area of Management. His research articles appeared in international peer-reviewed journals like Economic Modelling, Empirical Economics, Journal of Quantitative Economics, and Economic and Political Weekly. Pundarik Mukhopadhaya is Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, Australia. He previously served as a consultant at the ADB, World Bank, and UNESCO. His research focuses on the measurement of social welfare, economic inequality, poverty, gender disparity, and economic sustainability in developing and developed countries. He has authored 3 books and over 80 research papers in reputed journals and edited books.

Contents

Front Note

Chapter 1: Introduction and Motivation

Chapter 2: Housing

Chapter 3: Health

Chapter 4: Education

Chapter 5: Women Empowerment

Chapter 6: Hope for the Future

References

Annexes

Annex 1: The Sustainable Development Goals

Annex 2: Social and Economic Indicators Compiled by the United Nations, the World Bank, and IISS

Annex 3: A Note on the Social Progress Index

Annex 4: Income and Wealth Inequality: Trends and Policy Perspectives

Annex 5: Adequate Housing is a Human Right

Annex 6: The UN System

Annex 7: Future of the UN System: Possibilities for Consideration

Statistical Annex

Table 1: Water, Sanitation and Health Indicators, 2022

Table 2: Out of pocket expense, and data on physicians and nurses

Table 3: Incidence of Tuberculosis and Diabetes, 2021

Table 4: Health system ranks

Table 5: Countries with highest to lowest health expenditure % of GDP

Table 6: Top 64 countries on life expectancy (LE) and rank (R)

Table 7: Educational access equality and % with no schooling, 2022

Table 8: World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index: Components and Weights

Table 9: Net Food Trade and Food Security Index