Gelisim News

The coronavirus pandemic hit the world economies deeply. Stating that the information obtained from the World Inequality Database shows that the shares from the total income has improved for the bottom 50 percent, but this increase is very limited for the losses of the current income group over the years, Asst. Prof. Dr. Onur Özdemir from Istanbul Gelisim University said: “Considering these indicators, taking into account the current economic developments, the question to be asked in terms of the future is how the income inequality will continue. In addition, it should be assumed that the social, political and cultural components, as well as the economic factors of the current problem, are in a determining position.”

Stating that institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, which provide important data to the global system, assume that economic growth will turn negative in the coming years, Asst. Prof. Dr. Onur Özdemir said: “Due to the slowdown in production, bankruptcies of companies in certain sectors and the speed of mergers between companies; it is not possible for the current employment rate to remain at the same level after the pandemic. In other words, it seems likely that the severity and length of the economic contraction will result in reduced levels of employment, causing many employees to lose their jobs.”

Noting that it is important in which income group the layoffs are, Özdemir said: “If the vast majority of these segments already belong to the lowest income group in terms of their current position, it seems inevitable that we will see a rapid acceleration of income inequality in the coming years. Another reason for this increase is the increase in unemployment levels likely to occur in related to the economic contraction. Especially the spread of unemployment in societies is not only an economic issue, but also includes components that can produce important outcomes in social and political terms. Parallel to the increase in unemployment, how the current segment who lost their income can compensate for the shrinkage in their share of the division of resources and within this framework, will be one of the primary social issues that need to be considered as long-term issue and resolved.”

 

Özdemir stated as follows: 

 

“Employment should be evaluated within the framework of an economic structure where technology will be more determinant in production in the post-pandemic period and companies will adapt to technological developments. Especially when moving towards a period where technological advances are inevitable to have a dominant role in production, the way in which the income distribution will follow in this process should be one of the economic problems that need to be carefully examined.”