I share the Special Rapporteur's concern that politicians must reorient their policies toward the needs of ordinary people and away from the current singular focus on growth. However, his proposal to create another permanent UN body similar to the IPCC strikes me as both infeasible and counterproductive. Once again, the UN would find itself pursuing a cumbersome process of global meetings and reports that politicians and the very people whose voices are missing from policy debates would likely ignore. — Tom
Global economy must stop pandering to 'frivolous desires of ultra-rich', says UN expert
Matthew Taylor, The Guardian, March 3, 2026
Summary:
Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, argues the global economy must be reordered to serve ordinary people rather than the "frivolous and destructive demands of the ultra-rich," calling for politicians to stop prioritising "socially and ecologically destructive growth" that only increases profits and consumption of the world's richest individuals and corporations.
De Schutter will publish a "roadmap for eradicating poverty beyond growth" in April, developed through an informal "beyond growth coalition" including UN agencies, academics, civil society and unions, considering measures including universal basic income, job guarantees, debt cancellation and extreme wealth tax. The roadmap will coincide with two other initiatives: one by UN Secretary-General António Guterres examining alternatives to GDP as the key measure of economic success, and a G20 panel report on global inequality led by economist Joseph Stiglitz.
De Schutter calls for establishment of a permanent UN body to oversee the fight against inequality, operating like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which would ensure "the economy is redistributive and sustainable by design rather than encouraging destructive growth and then trying to make up for the mess that creates."
For developing countries, he argues current growth models trap them in exporting for global supply chains to service foreign debt rather than producing for domestic needs. For developed countries, the roadmap identifies how "public services and social protections" can be financed by taxing wealth and destructive economic activity rather than relying on indiscriminate growth, with public revenue raised "by taxing wealth, financial assets, immovable property, financial transactions, and all the ills of the economy, including from the extractive industry and especially of fossil energy."
Quotes:
"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
"This moment offers us a realistic opportunity to shape the post-2030 agenda with a viable alternative that will reconcile planetary boundaries with social justice and the fight against poverty and inequalities. That's the challenge and the opportunity." — Olivier De Schutter
"There's a realistic opportunity that we'll be able to present something that for the post-203
There is little disagreement that economic policy should serve ordinary citizens. Growth is not a moral objective in itself. It is a tool. If it fails to improve broad living standards, it deserves correction.
ReplyDeleteBut it is unhelpful to describe the global economy as primarily serving the “frivolous desires of the ultra-rich.” That interpretation overlooks how innovation, capital formation, and entrepreneurship have driven much of the material progress of many decades.
Elon Musk did not merely accumulate wealth. Through Tesla, electric vehicles moved from niche status toward mainstream adoption. Through SpaceX, launch costs fell significantly, expanding satellite access and global communications. One may question aspects of his conduct, but the technological impact is measurable.
Similarly, Bill Gates, via Microsoft, helped digitise the modern economy. His subsequent philanthropy through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has directed substantial private capital toward global health. Warren Buffett has taken a similar approach to wealth distribution through voluntary giving.
These examples do not resolve the inequality debate. They do, however, complicate the claim that wealth accumulation is inherently socially destructive.
The proposal to establish a permanent UN body modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change raises practical questions. Climate science requires global coordination of empirical data. Inequality, by contrast, reflects domestic political choices, tax structures, labour markets and institutional design. Creating another international reporting structure risks adding process without adding much else.
It is also worth noting that sustained economic growth has been the single most powerful driver of poverty reduction in the past 50 years, particularly in parts of Asia. Countries that integrated into global markets generally reduced extreme poverty much more rapidly than those that did not.
None of this argues for complacency. Tax systems should be credible. Public services must function. Environmental costs should be priced. Growth that erodes social cohesion is politically unstable.
But the alternative to growth is not fairness. It is stagnation, and stagnation distributes hardship more reliably than prosperity.
The task is not to abandon growth, but to discipline it with sound institutions. That is a more practical ambition than constructing yet another global forum.