Inequality is polarizing the world

Responses to the Covid pandemic have exposed growing global inequality in stark terms. Ian Goldin looks at ways to bridge the chasm

The World Today

Published 3 December 2021 — 5 minute READ

Image — Locals queue outside Samantha Murozoki's home, where she offered free meals during the government imposed coronavirus lockdown in Zimbabwe

Ian Goldin

Professor of Globalization and Development, University of Oxford

In rich countries, citizens queue for their second Covid vaccination while in poor countries unprotected children queue for food. Closing the gap between rich and poor is essential for a stable and prosperous future.

Within weeks of January 30, 2020 – the date the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus spreading throughout the world a Public Health Emergency of International Concern – the words ‘pandemic’ and ‘inequality’ began appearing together in headlines.

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