TDB 59th session: Item 8 (19 Sept 2012)

Item 8 - Development strategies in a globalized world: Reducing inequalities for balanced and sustainable development Deliberations will focus on the linkages between income distribution, growth and development. Income inequality has increased significantly over the last decades in different regions and groups of countries. This has revived the tension between advocates of theories that rising inequality is a necessary condition for successful development, and the alternative contention that high or rising inequality is not only an obstacle to development, but also one of the root causes of the current global crisis. Background to the deliberations of the Board under this item is contained in Chapters II-VI of the Trade and Development Report, 2012, which address the evolution of income inequality over the past decades, the reasons underpinning increasing inequality, the ways it is affecting economic growth, as well as proposals for inclusive development policies that would create the conditions for sustainable and rapid growth. Panellists Mr. Heiner Flassbeck, Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies of UNCTAD H.E. Mr. Nicholas Schmit, Minister of Labour, Luxembourg Professor James Galbraith, University of Texas, USA