Thin ice

According to the US National Intelligence Council’s (NIC’s) report ‘Global Trends 2040’, Pakistan has experienced a slight decline in income inequality over the last three decades. Income inequality has been increasing in most parts of the world, including major economies such as the US, China and Russia. The world average income inequality is 37, as measured by the Gini coefficient, and Pakistan has remained below the average since the 1990s at around 35.

This backwardness is due to a lack of technological advancement. In the rest of the world, advanced education and specialised skills were favoured, while low-skill jobs were automated and outsourced, indicating an ideological shift towards market-driven solutions. Pakistan should take an initiative to ensure a substantial decline in income inequality in future.

Ali Azlan

Lahore