Addressing Global Poverty and Ethical Economic Policy

Poverty and the Problem of the Excluded

The "dragon" of backwardness and poverty is manifesting throughout the world. A large number of countries and people remain anchored in poverty without any way out of this situation, at least in the short to medium term. This ongoing challenge of economic policy is related to several issues, such as the CNN effect—media pressure on governments to respond to international problems—and the "fashion show" tendency of ignoring similar, persistent background issues. The priorities of economic policy are often conditioned by these elements.

• Kleptocracies: The existence of corrupt regimes significantly hinders the establishment of aid channels to the neediest countries.
• Demographic Shifts: The fall in birth rates in advanced countries imposes new challenges regarding the imported population, though issues of skill levels and cultural norms persist.
• Education and Training: Conventional instruments of income distribution must be accompanied by educational efforts to avoid falling into the poverty trap.
• Globalization: The globalization of markets leads to leakage effects in redistribution policy.

Target Groups for Economic Policy

• Long-term unemployed: Unemployment continues to generate social exclusion and stigmatization.
• Elderly: In this group, exclusion is particularly painful because expectations for change are very small.
• Beggars and homeless: A highly heterogeneous group requiring redeveloped preventive policies and social reintegration.
• Rural poor: Difficult to reach due to geographical features.
• Ethnic groups: Comprehensive policies are needed to avoid stigmatization.

New Values, Ethical Foundations, and Metapreferences

The role of economic policy is particularly relevant here, as the government should act as a promoter of ethical conduct. A major problem is the difficulty of establishing ethical measures; typically, focus is placed solely on efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness rather than ethics.

In this context, a new duality has emerged: freedom versus security. A free economy will always produce winners and losers, but the losers require support. Security acts as a core value in the defense of active economic policy, specifically in areas such as:

• Non-contributory pensions versus fixed-labor temporary work.
• Public health disasters and disruptions in the system.

Paradoxically, within this context of shifting values and globalization, metapreferences have arisen. These are preferences guided not by taste, but by values. Economic activity affects the ends of economic policy, and these aspects are conditioned by metapreferences. In short, globalization coexists with individualism, and economic policy is constrained by multiple protectionist vectors oriented around values.