Webinar Three of a Three-part Series: What must be done if the state is to be capable of poverty and inequality reduction?

Abstract

The Standing Committee on the Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality (SCSfRPI) is a committee of the acclaimed Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). In July 2020, the ASSAf Council mandated the committee to focus on poverty and inequality concerning the pandemic and consult interdisciplinary science on reducing poverty and inequality. In response, the SCSfRPI conceptualised a webinar series that will delve into the following themes:

1. What to do to reduce poverty and inequality? 2. How to fund interventions to reduce poverty? 3. What must be done if the state is to be capable of poverty and inequality reduction?

This third webinar of the series, conceptualised by the Standing Committee on the Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality (SCSfRPI), is concerned with addressing the state’s capacity to reduce poverty and inequality in South Africa. Historically, evidence suggests that left to its own devices, the process of economic development and growth generates increased inequality, the “trickle up” effect. The moderation of income inequality involved significant public interventions in a progressive system of taxation, and economic and social policy instruments that engender fairer redistribution of the proceeds of economic activities.