On the ‘Arab Inequality Puzzle’: A Comment

Vladimir Hlasny and Paolo Verme

Development and Change, 2022, vol. 53, issue 2, 448-458

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12626

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:devchg:v:53:y:2022:i:2:p:448-458

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0012-155X

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Development and Change from International Institute of Social Studies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().