In a further sign that the issue of economic inequality is a growing issue of political interest in New Zealand, a policy forum is being held in two weeks time in Wellington with the title Does Inequality Matter? It is being hosted by the VUW Institute of Policy Studies in association with the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago, and is essentially a continuation of an earlier forum held under the same title at Otago earlier in the year, in which I presented a paper entitled ‘Why economic inequality doesn’t matter: The politics of inequality in New Zealand’ (downloadable as a PDF here, or readable over four blog posts: 1, 2, 3, 4). As with the earlier Otago forum, the keynote address will be by Spirit Level co-author Prof Richard Wilkinson (via Skype). Other interesting participants include Paul Callister (Inequality and education/human capital), Philippa Howden-Chapman (Inequality and health), Gabrielle Maxwell (Inequality and criminal justice), Matthew Gibbons (Social mobility), Tony Blakely, Xavier Márquez, Jonathan Boston and David Bromell (whose ideas on inequality I’ve blogged about here). You can download a copy of the programme, or go to the Institute of Policy Studies website for more info. Appropriately, there is no charge to attend, but you need to register by emailing [email protected] - but you should do so quickly, as apparently the demand for places has been much greater than anticipated.
Date: Tuesday 16 November 2010, 8:20am-5:30pm
Venue: Rutherford House LT3, Victoria University of Wellington, Pipitea Campus
