Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is said to have reversed a decade of progress towards poverty alleviation. This opinion piece contends that this diagnosis is incomplete and possibly incorrect. It distracts us from understanding the ways in which the impacts of the pandemic are embedded in a longer trajectory of unjust economic development. Two problems are highlighted: a more reasonable international poverty line shows that extreme poverty is on the rise, and the alleged progress fails to account for relatively fast-rising food prices. COVID-19 is therefore not reversing any meaningful trend; it is merely aggravating the problem. Ignoring this critique, the inclusive growth and productive employment agendas persist in their aim to incorporate the poor in an economic system that – compelled by its own logic – (re)produces poverty, inequality and hunger and undermines welfare. Simply reinforcing these agendas in light of COVID-19 bypasses the question of the desirability and viability of the system in which the poor are supposed to be incorporated.

摘要

据说COVID-19大流行逆转了十年的扶贫进程。该观点认为该诊断是不完整的，并且可能是错误的。它分散了我们的注意力，使人们无法理解大流行影响在较长时期的不公正经济发展轨迹中所嵌入的方式。突出了两个问题：更合理的国际贫困线表明，极端贫困正在增加，而且所谓的进展未能说明相对快速上涨的粮食价格。因此，COVID-19并没有扭转任何有意义的趋势。这只会加剧问题。无视这种批评，包容性增长和生产性就业议程的目标始终是将穷人纳入经济系统，该系统受其自身逻辑的驱使，会（重新）产生贫困，不平等和饥饿，破坏福利。仅仅根据COVID-19加强这些议程就可以绕开应该将穷人纳入其中的系统的可取性和可行性。