The Economic Impact of Income and Gender Inequalities

Catherine Hudson

IHSS

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) article: “Towards a Legacy of Inclusion” for The Economists 33rd edition, The World in 2019, discusses the economic effect of income and gender inequality. Lagarde puts into perspective the impact of these ongoing challenges by addressing the readers as a singular “we”. She pushes the weight of the problem into our own hands and refers to it as our legacy. Hence the title, “Towards a Legacy of Inclusion”, she encourages us to own up to the events in the world we all live in and actively choose to make a difference and choose the kind of legacy we wish to leave behind.
Income inequality not only amongst countries but also within, proves to be one of the global economy’s greatest challenges as only a minority have access to benefits such as education, culture enrichments or well-placed connections. This leaves not only the majority: those who are excluded from such benefits, at a disadvantage but also leaves the economy without the skills and talents of those excluded. This challenge, with the lack of unique perspectives and ideas that could be provided, extends in particular to gender exclusion. Statistics state that about 90% of countries have some legal restriction on women’s economic activity. Something I found interesting is that Sub-saharan Africa, IMF researchers estimate that reducing gender inequality by ten percentage points could boost growth by two percentage points over five years. This article is important to the field of study because it suggests that: “Finance would benefit enormously from greater diversity”. This leaves me questioning: Why is economic exclusion still relevant if we know economic equality could boost the economy as a whole? And most importantly, How can we overcome the obstacles to reduce income and gender inequalities?
This article is relevant to us as Americans because we are a part of this world and contribute either directly or indirectly to the economy. Furthermore, this article is relevant to us as adolescents because, ultimately, we are the future and we determine what that might look like. Articles such as this one that educate us on the current events of the world help us to visiualize that future.

Lagarde, Christine. "Towards a Legacy of Inclusion." The World in 2019, special issue of The Economist, 2019

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