A Perspective on the Concept of Economic Inequality in the 21st Century

Diana Georgiana Bucătar Diana Georgiana Bucătar

doi:10.33422/ijarme.v2i3.269

Abstract

This article aims to make an analysis on how the new reconfiguration of the global economic order, where the EU is one of the three main actors, most likely based on strong protectionist tendencies, affects the EU's ability to support more intense national economic policies and stricter rules aimed at reducing economic and social disparities. Our analytical study, one with an interdisciplinary character because, although the investigated aspects fit mainly in the economic sphere, they also have important and relevant connections with the field of international relations, follows four directions of investigation on opinions projected around the issue of economic inequality and its measurement. At the same time, the ideas around which we have built this material come to certify the already expressed views of economists that the reduction of major economic inequalities is not achieved strictly by economic measures but through a combination of factors, such as political and social programs or diplomacy. Also, our analysis brings to the foreground one of the most used instruments of measuring economic inequality, the Gini Coefficient. A series of conclusions resulted from this segment of our research, based on the interpretation of recent official statistics and data regarding economic inequality measured within the EU, illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of measuring such complex economic phenomena and what are the dangers that economists face when assigning certain figures to countries on the globe.

Highlights

In search of the global picture, taking into consideration changes in the contemporary climate, the concept of economic inequality is analyzed, in the 21st century, from a complex political, crosscultural, comparative perspective
Global economic integration has varied and profound effects on the economies of developed and emerging countries. Some of these effects have been accepted by governments, others have not, and this is the consequence of a set of contradictions: the establishment of a significant overall well-being, and of a social, sometimes even more significant inequality; economic growth, and the degradation of the environment; cheaper products, but a fall in revenue in certain sectors; a middle class swollen with a stubborn poverty; a strengthening of the political legitimacy of authoritarian governments that use globalization to achieve rising economic growth rates, along with the undermining of democracy in regions of the world where squeezed revenues are the consequence of losing national sovereignty
These things impose a series of challenges for economists, which could become themes for further in-depth research. Two of these are the development of the education system as a key factor in enabling citizens to adjust the inequality aspects caused by global economic integration and the management of these inequalities, hampered by the differences between state policies and the world economy, the theme we have partially touched upon in this article

Summary

Introduction

In search of the global picture, taking into consideration changes in the contemporary climate, the concept of economic inequality is analyzed, in the 21st century, from a complex political, crosscultural, comparative perspective. Globalization advocates claim that the phenomenon produces a rise in all economies, with all consumers benefiting from the fall in prices Critics of this phenomenon think that it causes social inequalities and serves more to the rich, to the detriment of the poor. While globally emerging economies such as China or other Central and Eastern European countries have reduced economic disparities, society has become more polarized in industrialized countries. This might explain why many social groups feel that they are losers in the global competition and have been "abandoned" by governments. The market and economic freedom are not rejected; instead, public policies, based on an ultra-simplifying paradigm, have accentuated economic inequalities and have hit the principle of equal chances

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion