Inequality and Public Policy

Bhanoji Rao is presently Governing Board Member, GITAM, and IFHE, India. He was a faculty member at the University of Singapore (1967–1978), National University of Singapore (1985–2001), and the LKY School of Public Policy (2009–2011). He served as a World Bank Economist during 1979–1985. He has authored and edited several books and monographs, as well as several journal articles. Suresh K.G. teaches economics at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. He holds a PhD in the area of Economics and an MPhil in the area of Management. His research articles appeared in international peer-reviewed journals like Economic Modelling, Empirical Economics, Journal of Quantitative Economics, and Economic and Political Weekly. Pundarik Mukhopadhaya is Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, Australia. He previously served as a consultant at the ADB, World Bank, and UNESCO. His research focuses on the measurement of social welfare, economic inequality, poverty, gender disparity, and economic sustainability in developing and developed countries. He has authored 3 books and over 80 research papers in reputed journals and edited books.

• ContentsFront NoteChapter 1: Introduction and MotivationChapter 2: HousingChapter 3: HealthChapter 4: EducationChapter 5: Women EmpowermentChapter 6: Hope for the FutureReferencesAnnexes Annex 1: The Sustainable Development GoalsAnnex 2: Social and Economic Indicators Compiled by the United Nations, the World Bank, and IISSAnnex 3: A Note on the Social Progress IndexAnnex 4: Income and Wealth Inequality: Trends and Policy PerspectivesAnnex 5: Adequate Housing is a Human RightAnnex 6: The UN SystemAnnex 7: Future of the UN System: Possibilities for ConsiderationStatistical AnnexTable 1: Water, Sanitation and Health Indicators, 2022Table 2: Out of pocket expense, and data on physicians and nursesTable 3: Incidence of Tuberculosis and Diabetes, 2021Table 4: Health system ranksTable 5: Countries with highest to lowest health expenditure % of GDPTable 6: Top 64 countries on life expectancy (LE) and rank (R)Table 7: Educational access equality and % with no schooling, 2022Table 8: World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index: Components and WeightsTable 9: Net Food Trade and Food Security Index