SOUTH AFRICA - Hunger in South Africa: study shows one in five are at risk [The Conversation, February 2023]

Title:

SOUTH AFRICA - Hunger in South Africa: study shows one in five are at risk 

 

Author:

Asanda Mtintsilana 

Postdoctoral researcher, University of the Witwatersrand

 

Published:

The Conversation, 15 February 2023

https://theconversation.com/hunger-in-south-africa-study-shows-one-in-five-are-at-risk-199133

 

From the article:

In terms of income distribution, South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The impact of COVID-19 on the economy has worsened this inequality and increased social vulnerability among poor people. Poverty is inherently associated with food insecurity – a state in which socially vulnerable people can’t get enough nutritious and safe food. 

 

Pandemic, Poverty, and Inequality: Evidence from India [IMF Working Paper, April 2022]

Title:

Pandemic, Poverty, and Inequality: Evidence from India

 

Authors:

Surjit S Bhalla, Karan Bhasin & Arvind Virmani

Published:

IMF Working Paper, April 2022

Click here to read (pdf format)

Abstract:

The paper presents estimates of poverty [extreme poverty PPP$1.9 and PPP$3.2] and consumption inequality in India for each of the years 2004-5 through the pandemic year 2020-21. These estimates include, for the first time, the effect of in-kind food subsides on poverty and inequality. Extreme poverty was as low as 0.8 percent in the pre-pandemic year 2019, and food transfers were instrumental in ensuring that it remained at that low level in pandemic year 2020. Post-food subsidy inequality at .294 is now very close to its lowest level 0.284 observed in 1993/94.

 

The World Bank [Press Release, 2022] - Global Growth to Slow through 2023, Adding to Risk of ‘Hard Landing’ in Developing Economies

Title:

Global Growth to Slow through 2023, Adding to Risk of ‘Hard Landing’ in Developing Economies

 

Published:

The World Bank [Press Release], 11 January 2022

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/01/11/global-recovery-economics-debt-commodity-inequality

From the Press Release:

Following a strong rebound in 2021, the global economy is entering a pronounced slowdown amid fresh threats from COVID-19 variants and a rise in inflation, debt, and income inequality that could endanger the recovery in emerging and developing economies, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report. Global growth is expected to decelerate markedly from 5.5 percent in 2021 to 4.1 percent in 2022 and 3.2 percent in 2023 as pent-up demand dissipates and as fiscal and monetary support is unwound across the world.

 

University of Bath, United Kingdom - Study offers insights into why inequality and economic decline drive polarisation

Title:

Study offers insights into why inequality and economic decline drive polarisation 

 

Visiting Professor Joanna Bryson has co-authored a study showing why rebuilding trust in societies can be so challenging.

 

Published:

University of Bath, Press Release, 15 December 2020

https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/study-offers-insights-into-why-inequality-and-economic-decline-drive-polarisation/

 

From the article:

New research by Joanna Bryson, Hertie School Professor of Ethics and Technology and Visiting Professor at the University of Bath, Alexander J. Stewart of the University of Houston, and Nolan McCarty of Princeton University offers an explanation of why individuals might become more polarised when they experience economic inequality, and what this implies. Their article, “Polarization under rising inequality and economic decline”, was published in Science Advances on 11 December 2020. Bryson began this research while at Princeton on sabbatical from the University of Bath.

6 Reasons why higher education needs to be disrupted [Harvard Business Review, 19 November 2020]

Title:

6 Reasons why higher education needs to be disrupted

 

Authors:

Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic & Becky Frankiewicz

 

Published:

Harvard Business Review, 19 November 2020

https://hbr.org/2019/11/6-reasons-why-higher-education-needs-to-be-disrupted

 

From the article:

On the surface, universities are a nice idea. You go in, pick a subject you like, learn from the experts, and leave being job- and future-ready. This is why so many people (around 40% in rich countries) decide to go to college, even if it means making big financial and personal sacrifices. Yet just because so many people are doing it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good thing to do. In fact, while there is generally a cost – in terms of employment prospect – of not having a college degree, there are not always clear competitive advantages in having one, particularly if almost half of the population has one. The reality in today’s digital-first world is that we need to teach every generation how to learn, unlearn, and relearn — quickly — so they can transform the future of work, rather than be transformed by it.

South Africa - An open letter to Professor Pierre de Vos, University of Cape Town (UCT) - An alternative idea around the transfer of intergenerational wealth that has ‘two happy effects’

Title:
An open letter to Professor Pierre de Vos

Author:
Deon Gouws

Published:
Moneyweb, 12 June 2020
https://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-opinion/an-open-letter-to-professor-pierre-de-vos/

From the article:
The University of Cape Town constitutional law expert said in a blog post on Wednesday that South Africa should essentially get rid of inheritance by taxing it at up to 100% to prevent white privilege from being carried over from one generation to the next, thereby tackling inequality.

UN News (21 April 2020) - Startling disparities in digital learning emerge as COVID-19 spreads: UN education agency

Title:
Startling disparities in digital learning emerge as COVID-19 spreads: UN education agency

Publised:
UN News, 21 April 2020

From the article:
With most of the world’s students now at home due to COVID-19, the pandemic is revealing startling divides in digitally-based distance learning, data from the UN education and cultural agency, UNESCO, and partners has revealed.

To read this article:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062232

REPORT: 2019 UN's Human Development Report

The 2019 UN's Human Development Report focuses on inequality. 

The title of this report:
Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st century

Report launched:
9 December 2019

Content:
This report provides "a comprehensive picture of the many forms of inequality that are shaping the 21st Century." To read more:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/2019-human-development-report-focus-inequality

To access/download this report:
http://www.hdr.undp.org/