Poverty: Misconceptions and Realities

You are cordially invited to the fourth lecture in the SUNY Conversations in the Disciplines series on “Poverty:  Misconceptions & Realities.”  (Previous speakers:  Paul Krugman, Sylvia Nasar and William Julius Wilson).

Please see the details below and in the attached flyer:

• Speaker:  Dr. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani

                                    Professor of Economics, Virginia Tech

                                    Non-resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

• Title of Lecture:  “Poverty & Inequality in the Middle East: How populism & oil wealth failed to advance social justice”

• Short description:  Demands for economic justice have figured prominently in the Arab uprisings of recent years, yet income inequality in Arab countries is not particularly high by developing country standards, and is considerably lower than in Latin America.  In this talk the speaker addresses this puzzle by examining data on poverty and inequality of opportunity in the Middle East.  He argues that populist authoritarian governments in the post-independence Middle East have implemented reforms such as land reform, provision of basic services (electricity and safe water), and food subsidies that have helped prevent the high levels of poverty prevailing in South Asia or high degrees of inequality in Latin America.  Where these governments have failed is in providing the poor with equal access to the means for social and economic mobility, primarily education.

• Time & location:  11 am, Monday, Nov. 2^nd, Classroom Building, Room 200, Westchester Community