For the past few weeks, we have been discussing issues related to the socio-economic influences driving crime. An economic model proposed by researchers at the Sol Plaaitjie University, explores how South Africa could benefit from radically reducing poverty and inequality.
Social grants are already key tools in fighting poverty, but what happens when we go further and simulate a country with just 5% extreme poverty? Researchers combined macroeconomic and micro-simulation models to test policy options, including budget-neutral social transfers.
The findings? Targeted grants tied to economic participation could grow GDP and limit inflation, all while lifting 25 million South Africans out of poverty.
Guest: senior researcher of the African Centre for Excellence for Inequality Research at the University of Cape Town, Fabio Andrés Diaz Pabón
