"Are Governments & the Bretton Woods Institutions Fighting Inequality?"

The recent backlash against globalization in advanced economies was in part driven by the increasing wealth and income gaps between those who benefit and those who do not. The consequences include political shifts in countries that have been the leading proponents of globalization. These shifts have put in question the future role of the multilateral institutions. This high-level panel co-organized by FES New York, New Rules, Development Finance International and Oxfam International aimed to promote a multi-stakeholder debate on the key measures global institutions and governments need to pursue in order to more effectively tackle economic inequality. The panel covered issues which are crucial to reinforcing the roles of the IMF and World Bank in combating inequality and ensuring shared prosperity and discussed main roadblocks to progress, including inadequate data and political capture, which were main findings of a 2016 workshop on Assessing Inequality.