On the ‘Arab Inequality Puzzle': The Case of Egypt

Main author: Achcar, Gilbert
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-32408
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description This article surveys and discusses prominent protagonists of the debate on socio‐economic inequality in the Arab region, with a special focus on the World Bank and Egypt. According to official data, the region holds remarkably low Gini coefficients in a context of declining inequality. This contradicts the popular perception of high social inequality as a major cause of regional protests since the Arab Spring; hence the reference to a ‘puzzle’ in mainstream literature. The debate about the reality of social inequality in the region has developed since 2011 — particularly in regard to Egypt, where income and consumption data are periodically collected by means of household surveys. Inequality measures based on this method alone, while income taxation data are inaccessible, are highly questionable and conflict with various observations and calculations based on other indicators such as national accounts, executive income or house prices. Yet, the World Bank upholds official inequality findings in portraying the Arab upheaval as the revolt of a ‘middle class’ that aspires to greater business freedom, in consonance with the neoliberal worldview.
format Journal Article
author Achcar, Gilbert
author_facet Achcar, Gilbert
authorStr Achcar, Gilbert
author_letter Achcar, Gilbert
title On the ‘Arab Inequality Puzzle': The Case of Egypt
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2020
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/32408/