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Mariam P

Perceived Growing Income Distribution Inequality in Indonesia - 1 views

www.indonesia-investments.com/...item2377

income distribution

shared by Mariam P on 29 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Mariam P on 29 Sep 14
     
    According to a survey conducted by Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI) most Indonesians believe that Indonesian society is characterized by a high degree of income distribution inequality. More than 90 percent of respondents see income inequality in Indonesia, while about 40 percent of respondents believe there is no equality at all regarding income distribution in Indonesia.
Haydn W

South Africa at 20: Storms behind the rainbow - Opinion - Al Jazeera English - 1 views

www.aljazeera.com/...-behi-2014320155339545752.html

Aggregate Supply South Africa GDP Mandela

shared by Haydn W on 30 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • April 27 marks the 20th anniversary of South Africa's first democratic elections.
  • Many things have improved in South Africa since 1994, to be sure. State racism has ended, and the country now boasts what some have described as the most progressive constitution in the world. People have rights, and they know that there are institutions designed to protect and uphold those rights. Still, everyday life for most South Africans remains a struggle - a struggle that is infinitely compounded by the sense of disappointment that accompanies it, given the gap between the expectations of liberation and the state of abjection that the majority continues to inhabit.
  • South Africa's unemployment rate in 1994 was 13 percent - so bad that most were convinced it could only get better. Yet today it is double that, at about 25 percent.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • And that's according to official statistics; a more reasonable figure, according to most analysts, is probably closer to 37 percent. The situation is particularly bad for young people. The Economist recently reported that "half of South Africans under 24 looking for work have none. Of those who have jobs, a third earn less than $2 a day."
  • South Africa also boasts a reputation for being one of the most unequal countries in the world. Not only has aggregate income inequality worsened since the end of apartheid, income inequality between racial groups has worsened as well.
  • According to the 2011 census, black households earn only 16 percent of that which white households earn. About 62 percent of all black people live below the poverty line, while in the rural areas of the former homelands this figure rises to a shocking 79 percent.
  • The ANC's Black Economic Empowerment programme has succeeded in minting new black millionaires (South Africa has 7,800 of them now), but can't seem to manage the much more basic goal of eliminating poverty.
  • during the negotiated transition of the 1980s and early 1990s. The apartheid National Party was determined that the transition would not undermine key corporate interests in South Africa, specifically finance and mining. They were willing to bargain away political power so long as they could retain control over the economy. And so they did.
  • The ANC was forced to retreat from its position on nationalisation and an IMF deal signed just before the transition deregulated the financial sector and clamped down on wage increases.
  • Still, when the ANC assumed power in 1994 it implemented a progressive policy initiative known as the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The RDP was designed to promote equitable development and poverty reduction
  • Despite its successes, this policy framework was abandoned a mere two years later. Mbeki and then Finance Minister Trevor Manuel held clandestine discussions with World Bank advisors toward drafting a new economic policy known as GEAR (Growth, Employment, and Redistribution, even though it accomplished precious little of the latter).
  • Given these contradictions, it's no wonder that South Africa is ablaze with discontent, earning it the title of "protest capital of the world".
  • Early this year some 3,000 protests occurred over a 90-day period, involving more than a million people. South Africans are taking to the streets, as they give up on electoral politics. This is particularly true for the young: Nearly 75 percent of voters aged 20-29 did not participate in the 2011 local elections.
  • The government's response has been a mix of police repression - including the recent massacre of 44 striking miners at Marikana - and the continued rollout of welfare grants, which now provide a vital lifeline to some 15 million people.
  • So far the protests have been focused on issues like access to housing, water, electricity, and other basic services, but it won't be long before they coalesce into something much more powerful
  • as they did during the last decade of apartheid. There are already signs that this is beginning to happen. The Economic Freedom Fighters, recently founded by Julius Malema, the unsavory former leader of the ANC Youth League, is successfully mobilising discontented youth and making a strong push to nationalise the mines and the banks.
  • It seems that the ANC's legitimacy is beginning to unravel and consent among the governed has begun to thin. It is still too early to tell, but the death of Mandela may further widen this crack in the edifice of the ruling regime, as the ANC scrambles to shore up its symbolic connection to the liberation struggle.
  • In short, the situation in South Africa over the past 20 years opens up interesting questions about the meaning of democracy. What is democracy if it doesn't allow people to determine their own economic destiny or benefit from the vast wealth of the commons? What is freedom if it serves only the capital interests of the country's elite? The revolution that brought us the end of apartheid has accomplished a great deal, to be sure, but it has not yet reached its goal. Liberation is not yet at hand.
  • Haydn W on 30 Mar 14
     
    From Al Jazeera I chose this article about the poor state of the economy in South Africa, 20 years after Nelson Mandela and the ANC came to power, ending the system of political, social and economic segregation, Apartheid. Despite reforms in the 90's the majority of wealth and power is still held by rich whites. With around 30% unemployment rate and young people struggling to find work many feel only anger and resentment to the current ANC government led by Jacob Zuma. Economically speaking South Africa's imports are up and exports down, reducing GDP as AS is shifted left. This is especially evident in industries like mining and banking which many are now calling for to be nationalised. 20 years on from Nelson Mandela's historic victory in the 1994 general election, South Africa, despite being free of the shackles of segregation is not in the boom many predict. The ANC must be careful in there actions, should they, following the death of Madiba lose contact with his legacy and what he stood for.
Amanda Anna G

Changes in the US regional income distribution | FT Alphaville - 0 views

ftalphaville.ft.com/...s-regional-income-distribution

distribution-of-income

shared by Amanda Anna G on 22 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Changes in the US regional income distribution
  • Readers of our post on the unequal distribution of healthcare productivity across the US will notice that the states with the lowest median incomes are the ones that were originally settled by Cavaliers and Borderers, with the notable exceptions of Virginia and Maryland. Despite a general tendency towards rising inequality in the US income distribution, regional inequalities haven’t changed much since 1984,
  • Amanda Anna G on 22 Sep 14
     
    This article deals with the income distribution in the US for some years back. There are charts showing the data for now and a few years back, explaining the change in the distribution of income in the different states in the US. 
Pip Dop

Exposed: The Africans named in the HSBC Swiss Leaks - 0 views

asmarino.com/...-named-in-the-hsbc-swiss-leaks

human development index inequality income distribution Africa

shared by Pip Dop on 14 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • Pip Dop on 14 Feb 15
     
    This is an interesting article that exposes some African clients involved in the HSBC Swiss leaks. It is a striking real life example of how inequal distribution of income is still an issue; Eritrea, ranked 182nd out of 187 in the HDI report has the client banking the most substantial sum of all Africans considered.
Marenne M

Rice Subsidy in Thailand causes Debt - 0 views

blogs.wsj.com/...hailands-costly-rice-subsidies

subsidy

shared by Marenne M on 12 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • drop its multibillion-dollar rice subsidy program and scale back
  • make room for spending on projects that enhance growth
  • stimulate spending in rural areas and support Thai farmers
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • government buys rice from local farmers for a set price above market rates
  • “It is inevitable for the government to incur losses as long as the scheme remains unchanged,” the IMF said.
  • The subsidy program left Ms. Yingluck’s administration with a big bill and millions of tons of unsold rice
  • egan buying rice at premiums of 35%-50% above market rates
  • isplacing Thailand from its perch as the world’s biggest rice exporter
  • eopardize a government commitment to balance the budget by 2017 and keep public debt below 50% of GDP
  • Thai authorities said the subsidy aims to address economic inequality and help poor farmers improve productivity
  • suggested that a reduction in the pledging prices or limits on the amount of purchase might be needed to ensure the sustainability of the policy
  • For the third subsidy year, which began last month, the government made some minor moves to scale back the subsidy
  • ay around $8.6 billion on the subsidy for 2013-‘14
  • hat losses from the subsidy could threaten Thailand’s credit rating
  • 5 million tons of rice in its stockpiles
  • Marenne M on 12 Nov 13
     
    This article describes how the government is trying to stimulate the rice market in Thailand by buying rice and placing subsidies on it. These major investments, however, are causing debt for the government, and prevent the government from investing in other projects.
Clemente F

Having your cake - 1 views

www.economist.com/21564421

Trade-offs

shared by Clemente F on 17 May 14 - No Cached
  • Clemente F on 17 May 14
     
    This article discusses how less inequality does not mean less efficiency looking at trade offs.
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