The term “inequality” is not new to the majority of readers. Although it has been the subject of public attention for a long time, in the context of Indonesia’s current economic development, inequality is a topical issue and is, in fact, increasingly worthy of examination. The present-day relevance of inequality has encouraged SMERU to present this issue as the focus of discussion in this issue of our newsletter.

Economic inequality provides a snapshot of the state of poverty and economic growth. It can serve as a sign that reminds us of our flaws in policy formulation and at the same time affirms the connection between economic growth and poverty. In the column And the Data Says, SMERU researchers attempt to analyze the relationship between inequality, growth, and poverty to investigate the role of inequality in poverty reduction in Indonesia.

In the Opinion column, this discourse is re-inforced with a piece by Armida Alisjahbana who highlights the pattern and factors contributing to the occurrence of regional inequality and the policies that need priority to overcome problems we are now facing. In her opinion, although the trend of inequality in Indonesia is in general considered moderate, regional inequality still needs to be given serious attention.

The column From the Field will expand the discourse on inequality in this edition through the results of three SMERU fields studies on inequality in education, health services, and economic opportunity. For the News from NGOs column Noer Fauzi and Usep Setiawan from the Consortium for Agrarian Renewal discuss the acquisition of land for development.