Ecuadorian President: Equality is the goal for development

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuadorian President: Equality is the goal for development
(People's Daily Online) 13:18, January 09, 2015

Development is basically an issue of politics. The starting point of this issue is the question of who has power in society. Is it the elite or the common folk? Capital or people? Market or society? Based on this view of political economics, Latin America's poverty is rooted in the problem of a very small elite with a hold over all the economic power..." So said Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa Delgado when he visited China lately.

President Correa delivered a speech at Tsinghua University on Jan. 7, 2015. He observed that in the past 30 years, many Latin American countries, including Ecuador, have been affected by trends of thinking on the new free economy, and have suffered from increasing foreign debt, dollarization, dereliction of central banks, and unfair treatment on free trade.

President Correa stressed that rather than focusing on economic growth, poverty reduction and equality should be the current goals. "The market is not the only solution to all economic and social problems. Relying on this 'invisible hand' has become something of a shibboleth. However, the 'visible hand', i.e. government' macro-regulation, should be employed regularly for a more balanced and healthier economy," he noted.

According President Correa, in the past 8 years, Ecuador has successfully transferred state power from a very small bourgeoisie to the people. From 2007 to 2014, Ecuador has enjoyed an average economic growth rate of 4 percent, while between 2006 and 2013 the poverty level dropped from 37.6 percent to 25.6 percent, with 1.136 million people lifting themselves from poverty. Ecuador is now the country in Latin America with the fastest economic growth, and the lowest poverty rate.

More:
http://en.people.cn/n/2015/0109/c98649-8833984.html

[bemildred]

1. Not in the USA it isn't.

There was a time, when I was young, when we still paid lip-service to that ideal of equality, but Raygun kissed that off for good. Since then it's been all about how cool it is to be filthy rich and powerful. Now it's about being better than everybody else.