MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

IMF lets fresh air in and addresses income inequality and redistribution debate

It would be a mistake to focus on growth and let inequality take care of itself, argues the paper

Income inequality can lead to slower or less sustainable economic growth, while redistribution of income, when measured, does not hurt and can even help an economy, IMF staff found in a research study released on Wednesday. Although the study by IMF economists does not reflect the Fund's official position, it is another sign of a shift in its thinking about income disparity.

 “It would still be a mistake to focus on growth and let inequality take care of itself, not only because inequality may be ethically undesirable but also because the resulting growth may be low and unsustainable,” according to the study.

The IMF analyzes the economies of each of its 188 member countries and offers advice on government budget and monetary policies. It is also a lender of last resort, tasked with supporting global financial stability.

It has traditionally advised countries to promote growth and reduce debt, but has not explicitly focused on income inequalities. But in the past year, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that creating economic stability is impossible without also addressing inequality.

Oxfam, the international development group, has long argued that organizations like the IMF need to address rising gaps between the rich and poor, and stop encouraging low public spending.

“In the bad old days, the IMF asked governments to cut public spending and taxes,” said Nicolas Mombrial, the head of Oxfam's Washington office. “We hope this research and Christine Lagarde's recent statements are a sign that they are changing their tune.”

Economists are still divided about the relationship between growth and income inequality, which has spiked around the world as economies struggle in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Some have also blamed rising income inequality for contributing to the crisis in the first place, by encouraging more borrowing by people who wanted to maintain their standards of living.

Jonathan Ostry and Andrew Berg, two of the authors of the IMF paper, also researched the link between income inequality and growth in 2011.

At the time, Ostry said the response was that income redistribution rather than inequality was responsible for hurting growth: some argued that inequality prompted governments to transfer money to the poor, which reduced incentives to work.

Their follow-up paper showed redistribution was not to blame.

“We find that inequality is bad for growth ... in and of itself,” Ostry told reporters. “And we can say that redistribution by itself doesn't seem to be bad for growth, unless it's very large.”

They said there was evidence that extremely high taxes or transfers to the poor, such as which occurs in some European countries, could hurt growth. But they found that redistribution also helped growth by reducing inequality.