Why economic inequality matters for development Luis Felipe López-CalvaDeon FilmerHaishan Fu August 20, 2025 This page in: English Français Español العربية 中文 © 2025 The World Bank Group

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/why-economic-inequality-matters-for-development Does economic inequality matter for development? That’s a question we discussed at a recent event with international experts and practitioners. Among them was our Chief Economist Indermit Gill, who responded: “How can it not? If you look at the aspects of inequality—you can talk about the inequality of opportunity, of income, of wealth, and of power—it matters a lot. It can really hurt development, if it’s too high or unmanageable. But then, the real question is, what do you do about it? And is the cure often worse than the disease?” © 2025 The World Bank Group