Open Letter to the United Nations Secretary-General and President of the World Bank-Setting Serious Goals to Combat Inequality

Dear Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and President of the World Bank Ajay Banga,

RE: Setting serious goals to combat inequality

As a group of economists and leaders in the fight against extreme inequalities from around the world, we write to request your leadership towards ensuring that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the World Bank back vital new strategic goals and indicators, that can redouble efforts to address rising extreme inequality.

We are living through a time of extraordinarily high economic inequality.  Extreme poverty and extreme wealth have risen sharply and simultaneously for the first time in 25 years.  Between 2019 and 2020, global inequality grew more rapidly than at any time since WW2. The richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8.5% of it. Billions of people face the terrible hardship of high and rising food prices and hunger, whilst the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade.

We know that high inequality undermines all our social and environmental goals. The 2006 World Development Report, as well as multiple other studies, have shown that extreme inequality of the kind we are observing today has a destructive effect on society. It corrodes our politics, destroys trust, hamstrings our collective economic prosperity and weakens multilateralism. We also know that without a sharp reduction in inequality, the twin goals of ending poverty and preventing climate breakdown will be in clear conflict.

In 2015, all the governments of the world made history by setting themselves a Sustainable Development Goal to reduce inequalities – “SDG10”.  Yet since then, following the COVID-19 pandemic and now the global cost of living crisis inequalities have worsened, by many measures.  SDG10 remains largely ignored. Equally troubling, the main SDG10 target, based on the World Bank’s Shared Prosperity goal, does not adequately measure or monitor key aspects of inequality.  Evidence from household surveys shows that one in five countries showing a positive trend in Shared Prosperity simultaneously saw inequality by other measures, like the Palma Ratio, increase, including countries such as Mongolia, Chile and Vietnam.

This summer we have a critical opportunity to strengthen our resolve to reduce this deep divide and send a clear signal to people around the world that the institutions designed to serve them are serious about ending this crisis of extreme inequality. 

We must strengthen our existing goals. We must act this summer to secure agreement that the UN SDG 10 must also have strengthened targets and better metrics, looking at inequalities both between countries and within them by using indicators that track wealth as well as income inequality. We are pleased that the World Bank is reviewing its Shared Prosperity goal. The new leadership of the World Bank has a tremendous opportunity to strengthen this goal to assess inequalities across the entire spectrum of the income and wealth distribution. 

There have been significant advances in inequality data, such as more accurate estimates of top incomes, helping to enable a new generation of policy making rooted in a clear distributional analysis of the impact of policy changes.  These need to be systematised and pushed further, to enable high-level inequality analysis by every government. This will be the only way to ensure broad political consensus for the transformation our economies must make to a zero-carbon future.

Goals matter. Leadership matters. The Bank and UN SDGs are uniquely placed to offer the rallying call for a reduction in inequality that our divided world needs so urgently today. We ask you to seize this opportunity to back stronger goals and better metrics for both wealth and income, as well as wage shares of national income. Also, SDG10 is not a separate, standalone goal: all economic, financial, and social policies should be assessed in terms of their likely impact on this goal. This would clearly signal our collective ambition to forge a more equal world.

Yours

IDNameRole and Organisation (for printout/public release)Joseph Stiglitz (Coauthor and lead signatory of the letter)Professor of economics at Columbia university; former Chief Economist at the World BankJayati Ghosh (Coauthor and lead signatory of the letter)Professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA; formerly Chairperson of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1A. Harooon Akram-LodhiProfessor of Economics and International Development Studies, Trent University2Aaron ReevesProfessor, University of Oxford3Aasha Kapur MehtaChairperson, Centre for Gender Studies, Institute for Human Development4Abu ShonchoyAssociate Professor, Florida International University5Adeeba KamarulzamanPro Vice Chancellor& President, Monash University Malaysia6Alex CobhamChief executive, Tax Justice Network7Alicia Puyana MutisEconomics Professor, Facultad Latinoamericana De Ciencias Sociales8Amar YumnamVisiting Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, India.9Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius 2015-201810Amit Singh KhokharAssistant Professor, Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University11Amre Moussa Secretary General of the Arab League 2001-2011, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt 1991-200112Andres LazzariniLecturer In Economics, Goldsmiths University of London13Andy SumnerProfessor of International Development at King’s and President of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes.14Aneek ChowdhuryResearch Analyst, Arcus Policy Research15Anisuzzaman ChowdhuryFormer Director, Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division & Director, Statistics Division, UN-ESCAP; Adjunct Professor, Western Sydney University16Anita Kelles-ViitanenFormer Senior Gender Advisor in ILO for South Asia; Policy Advisor on Innovation Management at IFAD and Senior Consultant on Gender at IFAD; Senior Consultant; And Former Manager of Social Development At Asian Development Bank, Socio-Cultural Value17Anjana ThampiAssistant Professor, O. P. Jindal Global University18Anthony ShorrocksFormer Director, World Institute for Development Economics Research; Director, Global Economic Perspectives19Anuradha ChenoyRetired Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University20Arthur MacewanProfessor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston21Assane DiopMinister, Adviser of The President, Presidency of The Republic of Senegal22Awanish KumarAssistant Professor, Azim Premji University23Ban Ki-MoonEighth Secretary-General of the United Nations Club de Madrid Honorary Member24Barzin JafartashColumnist, Donyaye Eghtesad Newspaper25Ben FineFormer UNCTAD, UNESCWA, UNDESA and UNRISD Consultant; Emeritus Professor, SOAS26Bertie AhernFormer Prime Minister of Ireland Former Prime Minister of Ireland27Bhavani R VConsultant, FAO28Bonn JuegoChair, Finnish Society for Development Research29Boris Tadic President of Serbia 2004-201230Bruno De ContiAssociate Professor, University of Campinas31C. SaratchandProfessor, Satyawati College, University of Delhi32Carlos Antonio Rozo BernalProfessor Titular C, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México33Carlos OyaProfessor of Political Economy of Development, Sosa University of London34Carmen Diana DeereDistinguished Professor Emerita of Latin American Studies and Food & Resource Economics, University of Florida35Chinglen MaisnamProfessor, Manipur University36Chiril GaburiciPrime Minister of Moldova 201537Chris BakerEditor, Siam Society38Dani RodrikFord Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School39David BarkinDistinguished Professor, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana40David G LeggeMember / Scholar Emeritus, People's Health Movement / La Trobe University, Melbourne41Delfno VargasFull Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico42Desmond McneillEmeritus Professor, Sum, University of Oslo43Dev NathanProfessor, Institute for Human Development44Dilli Raj KhanalFounder Chairman, Institute for Policy Research And Development (Iprad)45Dimitri PapadimitriouPresident & Professor of Economics, Levy Economics institute of Bard College46Dipa SinhaAssistant Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi47Djoomart Otorbaev Former Prime Minister of Kyrgyz Republic48Dr Hibist KassaPolicy Interface Fellow, University of Leicester49Dr Kalim SiddiquiSenior Lecturer, University of Huddersfield50Dr Preeti EdakunnyResearcher And Academic, EE Labs51Dr. H.S.ShylendraProfessor, Institute of Rural Management Anand (Irma)52Dr. Javaid Iqbal KhanAssistant Professor, University of Kashmir53Dr. Laila Kholid AlfirdausChair of Doctoral Program in Social Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro54Dr. Papia SenguptaAssistant Professor/ British Academy Visiting Fellow, University of Sheffield and Jawaharlal Nehru University55Dr. Rimple ManchandaAssociate Professor, Gd Goenka University56Duncan GreenProfessor In Practice, London School of Economics57EdwinDirector, Openspace58Eka TkeshelashviliDeputy Prime Minister of Georgia 2010-201259Elizabeth M. KingNonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution60Emilie Agner DammAnalysechef, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsr¨D61Emmanuel Tweneboah SenzuVisiting Professor, Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia62Enricowolleb@Gmail.ComDirector, Ismeri Europa63Erwin BulteProfessor of Development Economics, Wageningen University64Falendra KumarProfessor, University of Jammu65Filip Vujanovic President of Montenegro 2003-201866Frances StewartFormer Senior adviser to UNICEF; Emeritus Professor of Development Economics, University of Oxford67Francisco H. G. FerreiraFormer Senior Advisor, Research Department, World Bank; Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies, London School of Economics68Francois BourguignonFormer Chief Economist World Bank; Emeritus Professor, Paris School of Economics69Gabriel ZucmanProfessor, Paris School of Economics70Gabriele KoehlerFormer UN Resident Coordinator; former UNICEF regional advisor; Board Member, Women Engage for A Common Future71Geetha GokulAssistant Professor, St. Thomas College, Thrissur, Kerala, India72Gerald EpsteinProfessor of Economics and Co-Director, Peri, University of Massachusetts Amherst73Gerry RodgersFormer Director, International Institute for Labour Studies; Visiting Professor, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi74Getaneh GobezieGender And Rural Finance Consultant, Wisdom Consult75Gilad IsaacsExecutive Director, Institute for Economic Justice76Giorgos KallisProfessor, ICTA-UAB77Giovanni Andrea Cornia1981-87, Chief Economist UNICEF HQ, UNICEF; 1987-95 Director of the Economic and Social Policies Research Programme at UNICEF-ICDC- Florence - 1995-99; Honorary Professor of Economics, University of Florence78Girma T. KassiePrincipal Agricultural Market Economist, Icarda79Giuseppe TattaraRetired, University of Venice80Godfred A BokpinProfessor, University of Ghana81Guy StandingFormer Director International Labour Organisation; Professorial Research Associate, SOAS University of London82Harmanender SinghPhD Research Scholar, Panjab University Chandigarh83Helen ClarkPatron Helen Clark Foundation; 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand 1999-08; UNDP Administrator 2009-17,84Herni RamdlaningrumFormer Project Management Specialist at the UNDP; Program Manager, The PRAKARSA85HimanshuAssociate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University86Hussain JarwarChief Executive Officer, Indus Consortium87Ian GoldinFormer Vice President and Director of Policy at the World Bank; Professor, Oxford University88Ignacio GonzálezAssistant Professor, American University89Igor LuksicPrime Minister of Montenegro 2010-2012, Minister of Foreign Affairs 2012-201690Ilene GrabelDistinguished University Professor, University of Denver, Josef Korbel School of international Studies91Irene Van StaverenProfessor of Pluralist Development Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam92Isabel OrtizFormer Director at ILO and UNICEF, senior advisor at UNDESA and ADB; Director, Global Social Justice93Ishita MukhopadhyayProfessor, University of Calcutta94Ismail SerageldinVice President of the World Bank 1992-2000, Co-Chair Nizami Ganjavi International Center95Ivo Josipovic President of Croatia 2010-201596Jadranka Kosor Prime Minister of Croatia 2009-201197James B. DaviesProfessor Emeritus, University of Western Ontario98James K BoyceProfessor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Amherst99Jan Fisher, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic 2009-2010100Jan VandemoorteleFormer Director of Poverty; UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator; Independent Researcher & Lecturer, Ex-UNICEF/Undo/Ila101Jayati GhoshProfessor of Economics102Jens MartensExecutive Director, Global Policy forum Europe103Joaquín ArriolaFull Time Professor, Universidad Del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibersitatea104John E. AtagubaCanada Research Chair in Health Economics, University of Manitoba and African Health Economics and Policy Association105John MillerProfessor of Economics, Wheaton College106Jomo Kwame SundaramFormer UN-DESA Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development; Adviser, Khazanah Research institute107Jonathan D. OstryFormer Deputy Director at the IMF; Professor of The Practice, Georgetown University108Jose Antonio OcampoExecutive Secretary of ECLAC and Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Professor, Sipa, Columbia University109José Gabriel PalmaEmeritus Senior Lecturer and Professor of Economics, Respectively, University of Cambridge and University of Santiago110Joseph Muscat Prime Minister of Malta 2013-2020111Juan Carlos Moreno BridAssociate Director ECLAC; Full Professor, Universidad Nacional Autónoma De Mexico112Juan Pablo BohoslavskyFormer UN Independent Expert on Debt and Human Rights; Researcher, Researcher at Conicet113Juan SantarcángeloDESA, UN (NY) in 2005; Professor, Conicet- Universidad Nacional De Quilmes114Juan SomaviaFormer Director General, International Labour Organization (ILO); Presidente, Foro De Politica Exterior Chile115Jude OnemoleaseChief Executive officer, Durandel Ltd116Julia De Medeiros BragaCoordinator of Current Economic Affairs At Ipea , Uff And Ipea117Justin Yifu LinFormer Chief Economist/Senior Vice President at World Bank; Dean, Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University118K VeenaResearch Scholar, Institute for Social and Economic Change119Karkada NagarajAdjunct Faculty, ACJ Chennai. ,120Kate MeagherProfessor of Development Studies, London School of Economics121Kate PickettProfessor of Epidemiology, University of York and Health Equity North122Kate RaworthCo-author of the UNDP Human Development Report 1997-2001; Senior Teaching Associate, Environmental Change institute, University of Oxford123Kaushik BasuFormer Chief Economist of the World Bank; Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor, Cornell University124Kevin WatkinsVisiting Professor, LSE; former editor of the Human Development Report - From 2004 to 2008, he was director of the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report.125Korkut BoratavConsultant, UNCTAD; Consultant, UN Office at Geneva; Member, Turkish Social Science Organisation126Krittika DirghangiResearch Associate, Arcus Policy Research127Kul Chandra GautaamFormer Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF & former Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations; Chair of the Board of RESULTS.org128Léonce NdikumanaFormer Senior Economic Affairs Officer, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Distinguished Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst129LetermePrime minister of Belgium 2009 to December 2011; Trustee at NGIC130Lídia Brun CarrascoResearch Fellow, American University131Lucas ChancelCo-Director, Sciences Po & World inequality Lab132Luis BértolaFull Professor, Universidad De La República, Uruguay133M. Mustafa ErdogduDean, Beykoz University134Magdalena Sepúlveda CarmonaFormer United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights; Executive Director, The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights135Manfred NitschProfessor Emeritus, Freie Universitaet Berlin136Maniklal AdhikaryProfessor of Economics, The University of Burdwan137Manjula Laxman DabhiProfessor, Gujarat Vidyapith138Manuel BrancoFull Professor, University of Évora139Maria Fernanda EspinosaFormer President of the UN General Assembly; CEO GWLvoices, 73rd President of the UNGA, GWLvoices140Maria S. FloroEmeritus Professor of Economics, American University141Mariana MazzucatoProfessor And Founding Director of Iipp, University College London142Mario BiggeriFull Professor in Applied Economics, Department of Economics and Management University of Florence, Italy143Mark Malloch-BrownPresident Open Society Foundations Former: Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Administrator of UNDP, Vice-President for External Affairs (World Bank), and Vice-President for United Nations Affairs (World Bank)144Marrit Van Den BergAssociate Professor, Wageningen University and Research145Martin GuzmanCo-President, Columbia's Initiative for Policy Dialogue., Columbia University146Matías VernengoProfessor, Bucknell University147Mats KarlssonVice President, World Bank 1999-2002, Vice Chair UN High-Level Committee on Programs 2000-2010148Matthew MartinExecutive Director, Development Finance international149Md. Wakilur RahmanProfessor, Bangladesh Agricultural University150Meezan AnjumResearcher, JNU, New Delhi151Michael AshProfessor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst152Mike SavageProfessor of Sociology, London School of Economics153Miranda StewartExternal consultant, International Monetary Fund; Professor, University of Melbourne154Mirko CvetkovicSTC World Bank; Member, NGIC155Mladen Ivanic President of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014-2018156Mogens LykketoftPresident of the United Nations General Assembly 2015-2016; Retired and Chairman of Company Board, former Minister, Member and Speaker of Parliament157MohitPhD Research Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India158Mridul EapenHonorary Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum159Mrityunjoy MohantyProfessor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta160Muhammad Nur Amal Bin Mohamad MatahabAssistant Director, Prime Minister's Department of Malaysia161Muhammed Abdul KhalidResearch Fellow, National University of Malaysia162Muhammed MuqtadaFormer Director, Policy Planning, Employment Sector, ILO, Geneva163Murat ÖzturkFaculty Member, Kırklareli University164Narasimha Reddy DuvvuruProfessor of Economics (Rtd), University of Hyderabad165Nick RobinsFormer Co-Director UNEP Inquiry into a Sustainable Financial System Professor in Practice - Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research institute, London School of Economics166Nicos TrimikliniotisProfessor, University of Nicosia167Olivier De SchutterFormer UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food168Oluwasola OmojuEconomist/Research Fellow, National institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies169Omar S DahiProfessor of Economics, Hampshire College170Pablo Samaniego PonceProfessor, Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Ecuador171Parthapratim PalProfessor, Indian institute of Management Calcutta172Pasuk PhongpaichitEmeritus Professor in Political Economy, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University173Patrick Opoku AsumingSenior Lecturer, University of Ghana174Paul Robert GilbertSenior Lecturer in International Development, University of Sussex175Petar StoyanovPresident of Bulgaria 1997-2002176Peter JacobsStrategic Lead Academic, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)177Philip AlstonFormer UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, New York University178Prakash LounganiFormer Assistant Director at IMF; Program Director, Johns Hopkins University179Prof Ritu DewanDirector & Professor (R), Mumbai School of Economics & Public Policy180Professor Imraan ValodiaPro Vice-Chancellor and Director, Southern Centre for inequality Studies, University of The Witwatersrand181Pulin B NayakMember, CDE, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics182Rahul GoswamiAdviser, Centre for Social Markets183Raimonds Vejonis President of Latvia (2015-2019)184Raja JunankarFormer Consultant to the IMF; Adjunct Professor at Unsw and emeritus professor at Western Sydney University, Unsw and Western Sydney University185Raja KhalidiFormer Senior Economic Affairs, UNCTAD; Director General, Palestine Economic Policy Research institute (Mas)186Rajiv JhaAssociate Professor, Economics, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University187Ravi KanburFormer World Bank Chief Economist for Africa; Professor, Cornell University188Rexhep MeidaniPresident of Albania 1997-2002189Richard JollyFormer Assistance Secretary General of UN; Honorary Professor and Research Associate of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, University of Sussex190Richard LusimboDirector General, Uganda Key Populations Consortium (Ukpc)191Richard WilkinsonPatron, The Equality Trust192Rishvanth Reddy MucheliGuest Faculty, Christ (Deemed To Be University), India193Robert Hunter WadeWorld Bank economist in 1980 in Agricultural Research Unit and in Trade Policy Division; Professor of Global Political Economy, London School of Economics194Robert PollinDistinguished University Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst195Rodrigo Lopez-PablosVolunteer, Dobro196Rohit AzadFaculty, Jun, Delhi, India197Rohith JyothishAssistant Professor, O.P. Jindal Global University, India198Rolph Van Der HoevenFormer Director for Policy Coherence, ILO; Professor Emeritus, International institute of Social Studies199Rosen PlevnelievPresident of Bulgaria 2012-2017200Rui MateResearcher, Center for Public Integrity201Sakiko Fukuda-ParrFormer Director, Human Development Report Office, UNDP; Professor of International Affairs, The New School202Samuele BibiAssistant Professor, Northumbria University203Sandra PolaskiFormer Deputy Director General, International Labor Organization; Senior Research Scholar, Boston University Global Economic Governance initiative204Sandrine Dixson-DeclèvePresident, The Club of Rome205Sankar VarmaResearch Scholar, Christ (Deemed To Be University)206Sarah CliffeFormer UN ASG for civilian capacities, Former Special Representative for the World Bank’s World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development; World Bank's chief of mission for Timor Leste (1999 to 2002), World Bank Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Group from 2002-2007; Director of Strategy and Operations for the East Asia and Pacific Region from 2007-2009; Director, NYU Center on international Cooperation207Sarah CookFormer Director, UNRISD & UNICEF Innocenti Office of Research; Visiting Professor, Southern Centre for inequality Studies208Sattwick Dey BiswasResearch Fellow, Institute of Public Policy, National Law School of India University209Saul Escobar ToledoPresidente De La Junta De Gobierno, instituto De Estudios Obreros "Rafael Galván" Ac210Sergio CesarattoProfessor of Economics, Dipartimento Di Economia E Statistica - Università Di Siena211Servaas StormSenior Lecturer, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands212Shipra NigamFellow, Institute of Human Development213Sunanda SenRetired Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India214Surajit MazumdarProfessor, Jawaharlal Nehru University215Taitu HeronHead/Senior Development Specialist, University of The West indies Open Campus216Tamas SzentesEmeritus Professor, Corvinus University, Budapest217Tamás SzentesContracted regional coordinator of UNU research program on Global Crisis and Transformation, 1983-87 Academician and Professor Emeritus, Hungarian Academy of Science and Corvinus University of Budapest218Teresa GhilarducciProfessor, The New School219Terry Ray MckinleyPolicy Specialist; Contributor to the Human Development Report and Director of the International Poverty Centre in Brazil Professorial Research Associate, SOAS220Thomas FergusonDirector of Research, institute for New Economic Thinking221Thomas PikettyProfessor of economics,222Thomas PoggeDirector, Global Justice Program, Yale, Yale University223Thomas S. O'ConnellFormer Senior Health Advisor, WHO and UNCIEF; CEO And Founder, Global Health Synergies LLC224Till KellerhoffProgram Director, The Club of Rome225Tzipi LivniVice-Prime Minister of Israel, Minister of Foreign Affairs 2006-2009226Utsa PatnaikProfessor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Retired Teacher Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India227Valdis Zatlers President of Latvia 2007-2011228Vamsi VakulabharanamCo-Director, Asian Political Economy Program, And Associate Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst229Venkatesh AthreyaAdjunct Professor, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai230Vishnu N RamaniResearch Fellow, National institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi231Volkan Bozkir75th President of the UNGA;232Vuk Jeremić67th President of the UNGA; President, Center for international Relations and Sustainable Development233Werner RazaDirector, Austrian Foundation for Development Research234Yavuz YasarProfessor, University of Denver235Zahra Karimi MoughariUniversity Professor, University of Mazandaran236Zlatko LagumdzijaPrime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001-2002, deputy Prime Minister 1993-1996, 2012-2015