Conference
Symposium economic inequality
- Date
- Tuesday 17 November 2026
- Time
- Address
- Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid
Parnassusplein 5
2511VX Den Haag - Room
- Apollozaal B-04.45.VZ
Inequality receives a lot of attention in academic research and is high on the policy agenda in many countries. We are organizing a symposium on the causes and consequences of economic inequality and what can be done about it with Sir Richard Blundell (UCL/IFS), Egbert Jongen (Leiden University) and Joost Baeten (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment).
Sir Richard Blundell (David Ricardo Professor of Political Economy at University College London and Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at the Institute for Fiscal Studies) will present the findings of the IFS Deaton Review. This review brings together the lessons learned by international experts on the causes and consequences of inequality and policy options to reduce it. In a complementary talk, Egbert Jongen (Professor of Economics and Socioeconomic Policy at Leiden University) will present new work on the drivers of income inequality in the Netherlands. Joost Baeten (Head of Public Sector and Income Policy at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) will give a reflection from a policy perspective. We conclude the symposium with a plenary discussion, followed by social drinks.
Programme:
15:00-15:05 Introduction
15:05-16:05 Inequality: The IFS Deaton Review
Sir Richard Blundell (UCL/IFS)
16:05-16:30 Income Inequality in the Netherlands
Egbert Jongen (Leiden University)
16:30-16:40 Reflections from a policy perspective
Joost Baeten (SZW)
16:40-17:00 Plenary discussion
17:00-18:00 Social drinks
The symposium is open to everybody (including researchers, lecturers, students and policymakers)!
Attendance is free but registration is required. Register by sending an email to: inequalities@leidenuniv.nl.
To attend the symposium, you also have to bring an ID-card, passport, or driver’s license (or ‘Rijkspas’).