"Politicians must stop prioritising socially and ecologically destructive growth that only increases the profits and serves the consumption demands of the world's richest individuals and corporations. Instead, to tackle the interwoven crises of rising inequality, ecological collapse and a resurgent far-right politics, a new economic agenda is needed."
"An economy that uses its limited resources to prioritise building large mansions rather than social housing, or powerful cars rather than public transportation systems is grossly inefficient and will inevitably fail to satisfy the basic needs of people living on low incomes."
"The scarce resources we have should be used to prioritise the basic needs of people in poverty and to create what is of societal value rather than serve the frivolous desires of the ultra-rich."
Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, argues that the global economy requires fundamental restructuring to serve ordinary people rather than the ultra-rich. Current economic models prioritize growth that increases inequality, drives ecological collapse, and fuels far-right politics while failing to meet basic needs of low-income populations. De Schutter contends that allocating scarce resources to luxury items like mansions and high-performance vehicles instead of social housing and public transportation represents gross inefficiency. He is developing a roadmap for eradicating poverty beyond growth, incorporating perspectives from UN agencies, academics, civil society, and unions. Proposed policy options include universal basic income, job guarantees, debt cancellation, and extreme wealth taxes to expand governments' anti-poverty strategies.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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