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Top economists call on UK to join UN inequality panel
The open letter says the UK could use its G20 chairmanship next year to support the UN effort, which aims to build an evidence base on inequality and policies to reduce it.
The Guardian Economics reports that an open letter signed by 40 academics, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and co-author Kate Pickett, is urging UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to back a UN initiative focused on global inequality.
The signatories want the UK to join the creation of an International Panel on Inequality, which they describe as an independent, trusted global evidence base on the causes and consequences of inequality, along with analysis of policies that can reduce it.
The letter argues that backing the panel would allow Burnham to demonstrate leadership ahead of the UK chairing the G20 next year, a role the economists say could help the UK reaffirm its development agenda.
According to the article, the proposed panel will be chaired by Stiglitz and is designed to track extreme wealth disparities, with the outlet noting that Brazil, South Africa, Norway, and Spain have been involved in setting it up.