Economic growth is needed to reduce global poverty

I’m very grateful to Olivier de Schutter, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, for his discussion of the paper by me and Zack Gehan on future growth forecasts and poverty in 2050 (Economic growth is not a magic wand for ending poverty, 20 March). There is much to agree with in his analysis, but I’d disagree with his statement that our efforts today “should focus on reducing inequalities, not on growing the economy”.