LEARNING FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Social mobility and inequality as interconnected elements: only intervention on global inequalities, too often caused by the rigidity of international economic agreements that limit the sovereignty of countries, can help to address local inequalities and ensure social mobility.
The global economy is interdependent, and a "different" look is necessary in order to know ourselves and our economies: this was the introduction ​​by Mauro Cereghini presenting the meeting with Jayati Ghosh, Indian economist who discussed social mobility drawing from the many experiences - negative and positive - of the so-called "Global South".
Social mobility is an essential element to allow full expression of the human potential and foster social cohesion, but globally in the last thirty years inequality has increased and social mobility has decreased.
Inequality is not a necessary cost of economic growth, as we often hear, on the contrary, we can see how often it discourages economic growth.
To reduce inequality, and therefore enable effective social mobility, it is necessary to pursue policies related to a strong welfare state capable of acting on behalf of its citizens. In particular, access to quality education, including secondary and university education; expansion of the formal employment sector; investment in social protection programmes; promotion of universal access to food; increased female participation in the labour market; effective urban planning.
These policies have been put in place in several Latin American countries, along with taxation of large companies and major renegotiation of royalties that corporations impose on the exploitation of natural resources.
There are many positive examples illustrated by the Indian professor, from Africa, Latin America and Asia, and all struggle to deal with international agreements aimed more at protecting capital and profit rather than expanding both economic growth and rights.
In conclusion, Jayati Ghosh stressed that to improve social mobility in the world it is necessary to act internationally, and this is a responsibility of every country and every European citizen. -