G20 wealth inequality task force launched

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday launched a G20 experts task force to examine global wealth inequality and its effect on growth, poverty and multilateralism, the first initiative of its kind for the G20. BusinessLIVE reports that the six-member task force, chaired by Nobel Economics Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz, is expected to present its findings to G20 leaders due to convene in Johannesburg in November. Ramaphosa said people globally were aware of how inequality undermined dignity and the chance for a better future, citing unfair vaccine distribution during the Covid-19 pandemic as an example. ‘They see the impacts of rising food and energy prices, of debt, trade wars, all driving the growing gap between the rich and the rest of the world, undermining progress and economic dynamism,’ Ramaphosa said. ‘A new oligarchy in our global economy is becoming apparent.’ Stiglitz said the task force’s goal was to turn public frustration over inequality into actionable policy proposals for G20 leaders. According to the World Inequality Report, the poorest half of the world’s population owned only 2% of global wealth in 2021 while the richest 10% controlled 76%. The task force includes UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima and Jayati Ghosh, a development economist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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