{"id":45092,"date":"2019-05-18T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T08:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=45092"},"modified":"2019-05-18T09:05:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-18T08:05:00","slug":"we-need-a-review-into-inequality-but-it-must-be-done-by-the-right-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2019\/05\/18\/we-need-a-review-into-inequality-but-it-must-be-done-by-the-right-people\/","title":{"rendered":"We need a review into inequality, but it must be done by the right people"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a signatory to this letter in the Guardian<\/a> this morning questioning whether the IFS has asked the right people with the right balance of views and experience to review inequality in the UK:<\/em><\/p>\n

We welcome the idea of a major review of inequality (Britain \u2018risks heading to US levels of inequality\u2019<\/a>, 14 May). With Brexit looming and recent analyses linking income inequality to voting for rightwing populists, mass shootings, mental ill health, status consumerism and domestic violence, this is indeed a critical issue for our times.<\/p>\n

However, there is widespread concern about the composition of this review\u2019s \u201cexpert panel\u201d, which has a majority of white economists. Although the panel includes an expert on health inequalities, none of the world\u2019s leading experts on the health and psychosocial effects of income inequality itself are included, nor is there expertise in the spatial aspects of inequality. And there is a conspicuous absence of world-leading economists for whom income inequality is their primary focus \u2014 no Piketty, no Stiglitz, no Galbraith, no Frank, no Fitoussi, no Palma, no Chang, no Milanovic. Sir Angus Deaton, leading the review, stated in the journal Science in 2014 that he \u201cget[s] angry\u201d<\/a> about the theory that inequality has psychological and social effects on health \u2014 perhaps he has changed his mind now that his own research has uncovered rising deaths from addiction and suicide in the US, but there are many researchers with much greater depth in this area. Even more troubling, there is no ethnic minority representation on the \u201cexpert panel\u201d, no people with lived experience of inequality, no representatives of charities, trade unions or other NGOs. The number of disciplines represented is also small, although the impact of inequality goes far beyond economics.<\/p>\n

We, and others, have been researching, educating and campaigning on inequality for many years, we understand the issues and we know what needs to be done. We cannot wait five years for a report from a worryingly elitist review. Getting policymakers and politicians to tackle inequality will require grassroots support from those most affected and is needed urgently.<\/p>\n

Kate Pickett <\/strong>Professor of epidemiology and research champion for justice and equality, University of York<\/em>
\nRichard Wilkinson <\/strong>Emeritus professor of social epidemiology, University of Nottingham<\/em>
\nDanny Dorling <\/strong>Harold Mackinder professor of geography, University of Oxford<\/em>
\nDr Faiza Shaheen <\/strong>Director, CLASS<\/em>
\nDimitris Ballas <\/strong>Professor of economic geography, University of Groningen<\/em>
\nGuy Standing <\/strong>Professor of development studies, <\/em>Soas<\/em> University of London<\/em>
\nDr Lorenza Antonucci <\/strong>School of social policy, University of Birmingham<\/em>
\nRoberto De Vogli <\/strong>Associate professor, department of development and social psychology, and Human Rights Centre, University of Padua<\/em>
\nAnn Pettifor <\/strong>Director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME)<\/em>
\nPaul C Sutton <\/strong>Professor of geography and the environment, University of Denver<\/em>
\nSusan Himmelweit <\/strong>Emeritus professor of economics, Open University, Women\u2019s Budget Group<\/em>
\nDr Johnna Montgomerie <\/strong>Reader in international political economy, King\u2019s College London<\/em>
\nJohn Weeks <\/strong>Professor emeritus, <\/em>Soas University of London<\/em>
\nDirk Philipsen <\/strong>Associate research professor of economic history, Duke University<\/em>
\nDr Mary-Ann Stephenson <\/strong>Director, Women\u2019s Budget Group<\/em>
\nRuth Pearson <\/strong>Emeritus professor of development studies, University of Leeds, and management committee, Women\u2019s Budget Group<\/em>
\nDr Andrea Westall <\/strong>Senior visiting fellow, Open University, and Commissioner for Sustainable Equality<\/em>
\nCharlotte O\u2019Brien <\/strong>Professor of law, University of York<\/em>
\nRev Paul Nicolson <\/strong>Founder, Taxpayers Against Poverty<\/em>
\nMichael Pirson <\/strong>Associate professor of management, global sustainability, and social entrepreneurship, Fordham University<\/em>
\nLouka T Katseli <\/strong>Professor of economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and co-chair of the Independent Commission on Sustainable Equality, Progressive Society<\/em>
\nLindsay Stringer <\/strong>Professor of environment and development, University of Leeds<\/em>
\nJulia K Steinberger <\/strong>Professor of social ecology and ecological economics, University of Leeds<\/em>
\nHunter Lovins <\/strong>President, Natural Capitalism Solutions<\/em>
\nJonathan Bradshaw <\/strong>Professor emeritus of social policy, University of York<\/em>
\nRobert Costanza <\/strong>VC\u2019s chair in public policy, Australian National University<\/em>
\nJames Ward <\/strong>Associate professor, school of natural and built environments, University of South Australia<\/em>
\nTim Doran <\/strong>Professor of health policy, University of York<\/em>
\nDr Keri Chiveralls <\/strong>Adjunct research fellow, Central Queensland University<\/em>
\nMary Anne Mercer <\/strong>Senior lecturer emerita, Department of Global Health, University of Washington<\/em>
\nDr Stephen Bezruchka <\/strong>Senior lecturer in health services and global health, University of Washington<\/em>
\nRoger Burrows <\/strong>Professor of cities, Newcastle University<\/em>
\nIda Kubiszewski <\/strong>Associate professor in public policy, Australian National University<\/em>
\nBev Skeggs <\/strong>Professor of sociology, University of Lancaster<\/em>
\nRowland Atkinson <\/strong>Research chair in inclusive societies, University of Sheffield<\/em>
\nKrist\u00c3\u00adn Vala Ragnarsd\u00c3\u00b3ttir <\/strong>Professor of sustainability science, University of Iceland<\/em>
\nRichard Murphy <\/strong>Professor of practice in international political economy, City, University<\/em> of London, and director of Tax Research UK<\/em>
\nJacqueline McGlade<\/strong> Professor of resilience and sustainable development, University College London<\/em>
\nDamien Morrison<\/strong> Trustee, Tax Watch<\/em>
\nNick Meynen<\/strong> Policy officer for environmental and economic justice, European Environmental Bureau<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a signatory to this letter in the Guardian this morning questioning whether the IFS has asked the right people with the right balance
 Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,35,147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-domicile","category-economics","category-inequality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}