“Over the past two decades, the dominant pattern in OECD countries is one of a fairly widespread increase in income inequality”, says the Stiglitz report, completed in 2009 but based on data preceding the onset of the present crisis.
This if inequality increased in the past two decades, what happened in the three years since the global economic crisis struck? Are public finances and competitiveness the only dissonant elements of the EU fabric? Or is a social alarm likely? What will be the consequences of increased inequality (in wealth, health, education, employment) on the EU cohesion? What are the links between increasing citizens’ apathy toward EU policies and the perceived unfairness of the game?
To answer this question, the European Commission, in cooperation with the Maltese government and the Spanish Presidency of the EU, organises a two day conference on Inequality Measurement and the Progress of Society.