This Comment responds to the critical review by Gilbert Achcar published in this journal (May 2020) which concludes that the protagonists of the ‘Arab Inequality Puzzle’ debate exhibit a systematic neoliberal bias. We counter that Achcar's conclusion is based on a misleading and selective interpretation of evidence, false grouping of scholars and an inadequate understanding of the measurement of income inequality. Achcar's article politicizes and dismisses years of thorough research which is unfair to the numerous scholars who made a genuine effort to understand the true level of income inequality and its evolution in Egypt. This Comment argues that it is essential to keep the debate on a technical level and leave speculations and conspiracy theories aside.

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关于“阿拉伯不平等之谜”：评论

本评论回应了 Gilbert Achcar 在本期刊（2020 年 5 月）上发表的评论，该评论认为“阿拉伯不平等之谜”辩论的主角表现出系统性的新自由主义偏见。我们反驳说，Achcar 的结论是基于对证据的误导性和选择性解释、学者的错误分组以及对收入不平等测量的理解不足。Achcar 的文章将多年的深入研究政治化并驳斥了这种研究，这对努力了解埃及收入不平等的真实水平及其演变的众多学者来说是不公平的。该评论认为，必须将辩论保持在技术层面，将猜测和阴谋论搁置一旁。