Inequality, Economic Policies, Work and Poverty: The Latin American protracted malady Alicia Puyana Mutis

For centuries, inequality has worried philosophers, economists, politicians, governments. The evidence that at least since the mid 1970s inequality has increased reinstated the debate about its roots, effects and policies to treat it. By focusing in income rather in wealth concentration economic theory obscured the roots of many forms of inequality, let it be income, wage, education, health inequality and hid the primary distribution of income. By doing so, economics presents the effects as causes of inequality and acts on the former leaving the latter intact. This paper presents some of the theoretical elements that have shaped the analysis of inequality since mid 20. century and have supported the economic policies to address inequality. It ends with a review of long term  inequality in Latin America.

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