서울국제포럼 The Seoul Forum for International Affairs(SFIA)

유장희 회원 | 매일경제 상임고문, 전 동반성장위원회 위원장, 이화여자대학교 명예교수, 전 BBB Korea 회장(President), 전 이화여대 부총장

Abstract 

One of the major serious issues in economics these days is the issue of income inequality. Some argue that neoliberalism has
caused income inequality because the free market economy has not been able to distribute income in a fair and even way. This
argument goes one step further that inequality was caused by free trade that has been promoted by the WTO. This study
attempted to verify if this argument is acceptable when a more balanced statistical analysis is applied. The findings includes: (1)
Income inequality has not been deteriorated worldwide since the WTO was launched; (2) Some developed economies may
indeed have experienced deterioration of inequality, but it was not because of neoliberalism but rather because of domestic mismanagement of the labor market and government's policy mistakes for income redistribution; (3) The free trade system run by
the WTO should be maintained and Korea should take initiative for that as the world's 7th largest trading country.

원문출처: http://www.apecstudies.kr/page/page_view?menu_num=75