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Decoupling is a dangerous fantasy sustained by disavowal – the simultaneous admission and denial – of its impossibility in practice.

Broadening the debt-led accumulation system means that claims on future income and production are used to solve today’s problems while lessons learnt from past crises are wilfully ignored.

Economist Dani Rodrik painted a gloomy picture during his lecture at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London last week. He is ‘pessimistic’ (in his own words) because all the evidence he has gathered so far shows that growth in developi...

The Broker, together with knowledge platform Include, has completed a successful consultation asking more than a hundred experts how economic growth can be stimulated in sub-Saharan Africa

As part of a policy focus on promoting inclusiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa, donor countries and development organizations widely promote redistributive income and cash transfers  to ensure that the poor become integrated in the market economy...

After Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, the breakdown of financial markets caused significant losses for investors with savings in risky assets. These investment decisions were often based on bad, or at least incautious, advice from financial experts....

Agricultural development programmes have too long focused on semi-subsistence smallholders in an effort to achieve food security. We have to aim instead for an agricultural sector based on medium-sized, mixed family farms that contribute to the Af...

Although 90% of businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa’s markets are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), they do not play a significant role in current GDP growth. However, SMEs can lead a much-needed economic diversification, explore new sectors and b...

You can read it in the newspapers every day: national economies are not creating enough jobs and fewer quality jobs in the productive sectors. Globalization, automation and financialization of the economy have been identified as the drivers of cur...

Economic growth in the newly emerging economies is accompanied by obscene disparities between rich and poor.

Linking precarious work to the debate on income inequality shows that precarious work not only affects the ‘losers’ of globalization, but also the ‘winners’.

When the Dutch private sector is involved in development in Africa, a dilemma may arise. The Dutch government claims that businesses could have a positive impact on local economic development on the continent in the longer term. But do their activ...

The shift from wages to profits has led to an increase in inequality over the last three decades.

The stagnation in labour demand in the US is linked to the rise of finance. Strategies to encourage long-term employment growth must be found in that direction too.

Despite being the world’s second fastest-growing region, Africa’s challenge is translating this growth into broad-based improvements in well-being. SMEs development is key to change this.

How can SMEs become more productive and viable engines of inclusive growth in developing countries? Academics and practitioners provide answers.

International trade is a force of structural change and productive transformation and can therefore promote employment.

Although Sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly attractive to investors, structural transformation and formal job growth remain slow. Industrial surveys in many countries show that some highly productive firms co-exist with many low-productivity busin...

In an increasingly globalized world which places downward pressure on nominal wages, monetary policy should permit the rewards of productivity growth to be passed on to workers in the form of falling prices. Targeting nominal income growth to equa...

Evidence shows that technological change and productivity growth do not only destroy jobs in Europe and the US, but also create them.

The rise of the middle classes in emerging and developing countries has implications on different levels. Their role in democratization processes is not unambiguous and, as the first plenary session of the conference made clear, depends partly on...

The Dudley Seers lecture at the EADI General Conference was given by French economist Francois Bourguignon of the Paris School of Economics. Bourguignon analysed 50 years of development economics, characterized by a shift from a pure growth strate...

Inequality and declining job quality have been driven mainly by government policies, so reforming policy is now needed.

The private sector is the primary generator of sustainable employment, so governments need to work to ensure that the environment for growth is promoted and maintained.

In one of the chapters in the book ‘Het crisisdiner' (The Crisis Dinner, published in Dutch, February 2014), Oxfam Novib director Tom van der Lee writes about the impact of inequality in the United States and Europe on the current economic downtur...

With a demographic shift ahead, Europe has to increase productivity and employment rates and structurally reform the labour market.

In the past few years, Africa’s economic self-confidence on the global stage has grown. A number of African countries are experiencing remarkable levels of economic growth and – due to newly established partnerships with emerging economies like Ch...

More green investment can stimulate growth and employment in a crisis-ridden Europe, and reverse recent negative trends in the climate change mitigation progress.

The key to avoiding the risk of a jobless recovery in Southern Europe lies in the combination of wage flexibility and human capital accumulation.

It is time for development economists to look beyond the stylized facts to the dire realities of Africa’s frustrated youth and burgeoning informal economies.

Elements of the decent work agenda can improve employment conditions worldwide, but current neo-liberalist policies are counterproductive.

The Broker has started an online debate and a live discussion on how to tackle employment issues and further addressing the policies needed for an employment-generated economic growth. Can solutions be found within the current economic model, or&n...;

Over 200 million people worldwide are officially unemployed and looking for work. A much larger number of people, however, has a job, but one that is uncertain, unstable and precarious and does not help them out of poverty. Rising economic growth...

To solve the structural problems related to unemployment, a radical policy shift is needed. Innovation policies must focus on job-intensive sectors. Governments must curb free capital flows with more regulation and stimulate financial institutions...

The creation of more decent jobs should be central to economic policies. The prevailing assumption that GDP growth alone will generate more decent work is not valid. And it obstructs the creation of a society in which labour serves and dignifies b...

Welcome to The Broker’s dossier on employment. Global employment trends can be confusing. For example, they show an increase in the numbers of unemployed people while at the same time an increase in the amount of jobs. Population growth alone cann...

The belief that economic growth– together with low inflation rates, technological innovations and good education–is enough to create all the jobs a country needs, is in decline. The reality now is that technology is improving so fast that better e...

With the outbreak of a new set of crises rippling throughout the African continent, it is necessary to recognize the cyclical pattern that the region continues to be plagued by in terms of economic growth, development and stability. 

The post-MDG agenda should be based on an alternative theory of development, leading to a simple framework of only three complementary goals: reducing global inequalities, abandoning growth, and enhancing trust.

Despite the aspirations, the development of a set of Sustainable Development Goals remains a challenging trial.

Inequality indicators play an important role in the process of choosing the post-2015 goals. Related to this issue is the question of what level of inequality is acceptable – a certain amount of inequality can stimulate economic growth, but too mu...

Inequality rates continue to soar all over the world despite falling poverty rates and global GDP growth. The world’s richest 1% own 40% of global wealth, while the bottom half own only 1%. To improve our understanding of inequality and to identif...

Developing countries should go for regional trading agreements until they raise the overall skill levels of their populations.

While overcoming dependence is key, abundance of natural resources is not a bad thing in itself.

African governments must implement a series of policies to make sure that natural resource wealth brings more inclusive and equitable growth.

Although the MDGs have certainly facilitated progress in Africa's development, sustaining this progress comes with national, regional and global challenges.

Social entrepreneurship is growing fast. However, its success depends on more than quantity alone. Isolated social enterprises cannot deliver impact beyond the microeconomic scale. They need to be part of a broader system and aware of the differen...

Welcome to The Broker Dossier on Social Entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is increasingly popular as a way of doing business while achieving a social and economic impact. However, many questions still remain about what social entrepreneurs...

Social protection schemes look very different across the world. They traditionally protect people from income fall after shocks. But some programmes have higher aims: increasing the economic opportunities and promoting the potential of those who a...

In spite of the ongoing euro crisis, which does not leave much space for an ambitious global agenda, the EU remains a major global development actor.

Resource-rich Africa must expand its industrial sector on its way to economic inclusiveness.

Ghana needs to focus more on local production and value addition in order to bring its marginalized citizens on board.  

A new global partnership can provide the impetus for tackling the development challenges that Africa is facing. It must therefore be mutually beneficial, promote the autonomy of its states and address its developmental priorities.

A new global partnership can provide the impetus for tackling the development challenges that Africa is facing. It must therefore be mutually beneficial, promote the autonomy of its states and address its developmental priorities.

If we want to increase jobs and reduce poverty, we must emphasize the private sector's role in development.

Fundamental systemic change is needed, starting with a cultural paradigm shift based on appreciation of our environment.

Africa is gaining increasing global economic importance, but it has to address logistical and policy impediments to fully benefit from it.

More diversification and better reinvestment of natural resource revenues can ensure that foreign investments in Africa contribute to inclusive growth.

Only through focusing on equity can poverty reduction and a sustainable environment be achieved in the post-2015 development framework.

As a ‘post-Busan’ donor, Spain could act as a strategic channel, providing know-how for collaboration with MICs in development.

Complementary and community currency allow members to insulate the local from the global economy, and give priority to local goods produced under organic and environmentally friendly practices.

Day one of the conference Economics for a Better World ended with a number of interesting presentations on how to achieve real progress. This is a task not only for governments but also for the private sector.

Criticism of East Asia’s alleged self-interest-led development aid can also be applied to Western donors.

Public procurement can be used to spur economic transition. But there can be a bottleneck when sustainability and inclusiveness do not converge.

African economic transformation should be inclusive, but how can this be achieved? Experts discussed this at the launch of the preview of the 2013 African Transformation Report.

Economic growth should go hand in hand with an improvement in wage share and vice versa. However, current economic policy does not.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning when I received my mother’s call from China while contemplating my first blog about China as an “emerged power”.

Turkey needs to address human rights and inequality to be a role model for emerging powers.

The failure of effective direct taxation is the central explanation for much higher final income inequality. Therefore Cobham and Sumner argue in favour of more fairness in tax systems through metrics.

Economic policy should focus on poverty reduction rather than on growth and should start in rural areas. First of two blog posts by David Woodward.

Policies to improve inclusiveness should rethink the model of financial globalization in the same way as industrialization was embedded in national welfare states.

South American countries are experimenting with the social and solidarity economy (SSE) model. It’s time for the West to learn from them, argues Milford Bateman.

‘Spurring economic transition’ is the follow-up to The Broker’s debate on inequality. What are the most important conclusions of the inequality debate that it needs to address?

Pro-poor strategies that are inclusive should be funded primarily by domestic sources, because foreign savings and investment tend to be volatile and difficult to target. However, this can be a problem for the very poor countries.

The problems experienced by microfinance are a good example of what is needed to achieve an inclusive economy. For example, it tends to be blind to social and psychological costs.

There is a common tendency to view growth and equity as competing goals, including by many of those who have strong concerns about the latter. This is unfortunate since it is likely to lead to bad policy and horrible politics.

How can we create a more inclusive economy and what obstacles lie in the way? This debate seeks answers.

The global development framework for the coming years cannot ignore global inequality if it should constitute a relevant and legitimate set of development goals in a globalised world.

The final report of the Tracking Development project concludes that successful development strategies focus on small-scale farmers and give them and small entrepreneurs the freedom and protection to build on a future rather than on industrialisation.

The final report of the Tracking Development project concludes that successful development strategies focus on small-scale farmers and give them and small entrepreneurs the freedom and protection to build on a future rather than on industrialisation.

The last few months have been a busy time for inequality. And over the last few days the poor thing got busier still. Inequality is now dancing on two stages. It must be really quite dizzy.

It is a big mistake to separate analyses of growth and income distribution. A rising tide is critical to lifting all boats. 

The poverty reduction goal already embodies inequality. Even if we agree that it under-values things, it is far from obvious that adding an overall inequality measure is the best corrective. We need to think clearly about what is missing and how b...

Tackling inequality in Uganda entails a comprehensive development framework that puts people’s participation in the economic growth process at the centre. People must be viewed as agents of economic growth and transformation and not passive recipi...

Interview with Ted Schrecker: 'There is widespread recognition that the dynamics of the global economy work in the direction of increased inequality. And there is very little reason to expect that to change over the short term.'

There is an inevitable trade-off between global growth and climate change. Unless there is a direct causal link from faster economic growth to the development of carbon-reducing technologies, and this is strong enough to reduce the carbon intensit...

Doing something about the numerous inequalities we face in this world, encompassing so many domains is on everybody’s lips these days. But what is the result? What place will the true addressing of inequalities bring us in the post 2015 era? Actua...

Should inequality become a central issue in the post-2015 agenda? And what would that mean in terms of policy change?

Inequality is firmly back on the policy agenda in many parts of the world. Many believe it should have a prominent position on the post-2015 agenda. I disagree. Please let me explain why.

Inequality hinders sustainable economic growth, allows the rich a disproportionate share of  political power, and fosters violence and criminality. Unequal societies have lower life expectancies and suffer more from diseases than more equal s...

Now economists more and more accept the idea that inequality is rising in most parts of the world and harms sustainable economic growth, the obvious next step is to change the policies that cause it. Is redistribution enough or do we have to go fu...

In recent decades, inequality has been increasing worldwide. Although the middle classes are growing, most of the world’s population continues to live close to the poverty lines. ‘Emerging giants’ India and China are witnessing soaring inequality...

Even skeptics admit it: effective aid works. In the last 25 years, the share of poor people in developing countries has been cut by half, and the last decade has witnessed impressive development successes in countries once thought beyond help.

Sir Richard Jolly discusses why the reduction of inequality is crucial for economic growth and greater prosperity

Establishing the roles of young people in developing economies

In this guest blog Sir Richard Jolly emphasizes that it is time to bring the reduction of inequality into the fight against poverty ánd the promotion of economic growth.

In the framework of the Bellagio Initiative, The Broker hosted a lively online debate on human wellbeing and inclusive economics in the 21st century. Our contributors agree that economic growth as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) generally...

According to Henk Molenaar, we are in need of a single, powerful concept to rival growth as development paradigm.