This paper seeks to analyse Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in prospect rather than retrospect. In doing so, it begins with a critical evaluation of their conception and design to focus on limitations that must be addressed. In contemplating the future of MDGs beyond 2015, it suggests that...

In this first lecture in honour of Amartya Sen, I examine the lessons that can be drawn from <italic>The Idea of Justice</italic> for public economics and the extent to which public economics has already moved in the direction advocated by Sen. More specifically, I focus on the current fiscal austerity...

In anti-racist education, it is important to reflect on the pitfalls of the ideal of equality in order to obtain greater social justice. Too narrow an understanding of equality without an acknowledgment of the individual's ethnic identity provides fragile grounds when dealing with the social and...

This paper examines the two-way relationship between inequality and economic fluctuations, and the implications for human development. For years, the dominant paradigm in macroeconomics, which assumed that income distribution did not matter, at least for macroeconomic behavior, ignored...

The relation between the economy and equity has shown marked contrasts in Latin America over the past two decades. Increases in public spending have been reflected in advances in education, health and access to basic utilities. In contrast, the region has experienced weak labor market...

This paper examines the observed impact of past economic downturns on human development indicators in 29 countries of the region. We estimate empirical elasticities of key human development indicators covering demographics, crime, epidemiology, unemployment, and poverty with respect to changes...

Growing awareness of the limitations of conventional development indicators to adequately capture the full human experience provides an opportunity to adopt more holistic concepts such as wellbeing. However, operational and quantification challenges must be addressed to propose measures that can...