By Paula Garda and Michael Koelle, OECD Economics Department Peru has made significant strides over the past two decades in reducing poverty and improving living standards, outperforming many Latin American peer countries as highlighted in the 2023 Economic Survey of Peru[GPE1] .  The basis for this progress was the country’s robust macroeconomic framework and ambitious structural reforms implemented in 1990s. These reforms have catalysed macroeconomic stability, high economic growth, low inflation and low public debt. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, exposed remaining challenges. Per ..read more

By Nicolas Gonne and Müge Adalet McGowan, OECD Economics Department. Belgium has low income inequality overall, thanks to extensive tax and transfer policies and strong institutionalised social dialogue. However, as in other OECD countries, there is scope to improve equality of opportunities. Indeed, Belgium’s good overall performance regarding income distribution hides an unequal access to life chances, with considerable disparities according to, notably, parental background and country of origin. Improving economic opportunities for all in Belgium would promote well-being and potential growt ..read more

by Boris Cournede, Head of Public Finance Workstream, OECD Economics Department Most OECD countries have very large government sectors: public expenditure amounts to 43% of economic activity, measured by GDP, on average across OECD countries. This proportion exceeds 50% in four OECD countries. The programmes on which governments spend have thus deep implications for people’swell-being and a country’s economic fortunes. Similarly, the choice and design of taxes that fund expenditure will also shape economic decisions and influence people’s  choices to work, invest and consume. New OECD emp ..read more

by Laurence Boone, Aida Caldera Sanchez, Nikki Kergozou, Stefano Scarpetta As some G20 countries are gradually re-opening their economies after a period of strict confinement measures, governments have the opportunity to build back better and make growth more inclusive. The COVID-19 crisis is generating new sources of inequality but also exacerbating the inequalities that existed before the crisis. Already disadvantaged groups, low-paid workers, those in non-standard forms of employment, including those in the informal sector, as well youth and many women have been disproportionally affected b ..read more

By Orsetta Causa and Nicolas Woloszko Is housing a vehicle for wealth accumulation for middle class and lower-income groups? Can housing mitigate wealth inequality? Assessing housing from a wealth distribution perspective is all the more important in a context where inequality has been rising, where the capital share of income has increased relative to labour and where wealth inequality is much higher than income inequality, potentially undermining equality of opportunity and social mobility. In a recent paper (Housing-wealth-accumulation-and-wealth-distribution-evidence-and-stylized ..read more

by Laurence Boone, OECD Chief Economist, and Antoine Goujard, Head of the France Desk, OECD Economics Department The recent yellow-vest demonstrations could well be simply a variant of the regional and social divides potentially linked to the same trend towards a rejection of globalisation that has emerged in a number of OECD countries. That is probably partly true, but the reasons for this movement are also rooted in a profound inequality of opportunity. It takes more than six generations in France for a person at the bottom end of income distribution to reach the mean. More than 15% of 15 ..read more