Bill Mitchell-en IMF now claiming continued inequality risks opening a “social and political seismic crack”
(http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=47311)
(i) Sarrera gisa
… I did have time to read the latest IMF – Fiscal Monitor, April 2021 : A Fair Shot – which was published on April 7, 2021. The schizoid nature of this institution continues to evolve and it will be hard for the austerity mavens to unambiguously use it as a cover for their arguments when they resume their call for public sector spending cuts etc. (…)
(ii) NMF: eguneraketa
IMF Update
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… the tone coming out of the IMF has shifted significantly from when it was leading the charge in destroying nations and increasing income and wealth inequalities.
Don’t think for one minute, however, that the institution has abandoned mainstream macroeconomic thinking.
It hasn’t.
But it has opened a sort of schizoid image – talking about, on the one hand, a global innoculation program “paying for itself” (that is, still framing things in terms of making fiscal cuts), while, on the other hand, imploring governments to maintain fiscal support and target policies that “aim at giving everyone a fair shot at lifetime oppor- tunities by reducing gaps in access to quality public services.”
The Chapter in question:
1. “documents how large preexisting inequalities have worsened the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the crisis, in turn, has escalated those inequalities”.
2. Shows that “Countries with higher relative poverty have had more reported infections, especially where urbanization is more extensive.”
3. “Policy responses should recognize that various aspects of inequality (income, wealth, opportunity) are mutually reinforcing and create a vicious circle.”
Far from advocating its infamous structural adjustment packages (SAPs) that decimated public education and health systems in the poorer nations from the 1970s onwards, the IMF is now wanting governments to be:
Investing more and investing better in education, health, and early childhood development ….
Strengthening social safety nets by expanding coverage of benefits …
Supporting lower-income countries that face especially daunting challenges …
Yes, it does talk about the need to be “Mustering the necessary revenues”. But the shift in narrative towards a recognition that austerity has worsened inequality and that inequality, in turn, damages economic growth as well as delivering other undesirable outcomes, is notable.
In the Foreword, the IMF Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department wrote:
… it is crucial to give everyone a fair shot at life success. Preexisting inequalities have amplified the adverse impact of the pandemic. And, in turn, COVID-19 has aggravated inequalities. A vicious cycle of inequality could morph into a social and political seismic crack. To reduce that risk … [we call] … for tackling inequalities in access to basic public services—health care, education, social safety — and for strengthening redistributive policies.
Not what you would have read from the IMF in 2010, for example.
So the next time, some conservative politician or a self-styled progressive politician start talking austerity or austerity-light in the latter case and try invoking the IMF as an authority, they will find their task less straightforward than in the past.
(iii) Artisten sektorea
A good initiative for the Arts sector
A regular reader of my blog and sometime commentator, Mark Russell, who lives in the North of England, wrote to me this week about his new venture. I don’t often promote these type of things but I thought that this project was worth giving credit to.
His initiative is spelt out in this article – On the road to a music recovery (April 19, 2021).
The arts (particularly live music) sector has been ravaged by the pandemic.
My own band – Pressure Drop – has not played live since March 2020 and our first live gig is now on Thursday, May 6, 2021. It would great to see Melbourne readers of my blog turn up to help the venue on that night.
I can even talk about MMT in the breaks!
So any initiative that provides some boost to musicians in this rather bleak period is to be welcomed.
Mark Russell has converted an – Airstream – caravan to overcome the fact that the “the idea of tightly-packed 2,000-strong venues is over for a long time”.
The caravan conversion allows a small stage in the mobile, ‘pop up’ venue to be created with great lighting, sound, and capacity to live stream the event to larger audiences.
You can also read about Amber Sinclair’s ‘Rock School Bus’ in the same article. Another great initiative with significant equity benefits.
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