Inanequitablesociety,everyonewillhavethesameopportunitiestopursuealifeoftheirchoosing,whetherthisintermsofacquiringaneducation,obtainingcredit,findingajoborparticipatinginthepublicdebate,regardlessoftheircountryofbirth,thewealthandsocialstatusoftheirparents,ortheirgender,race,caste,ethnicityorsocialclass.Thedistributionofincome,educationlevels,wealthandotherassetswilltypicallybeuneveneveninanequitablesociety,becausepeopledifferintheefforttheymake,howtheychoosetospendtheirtime,intheirdesiretobearrisks,orinthewaytheyprocessinformation.Buteveryoneshouldhavetheopportunitytomakethemostoftheirtalentsandenergies.Whentheydoso,itisnotonlygoodandjustandfairfortheindividual,itisgoodforthesocietyasawhole,becauseequityandgrowthare,inthelongrun,complementary.Equityisnotthesameasequality.Thisyear’sWorldDevelopmentReport,focusesonequity.AndI’mfollowingtheusageofequityinthatreportthatwasjustissuedwhereequityisdefinedasequalityofopportunities,whereopportunitiesarethefactorsthatmakeitpossibleforpeopletogenerateacertainincomeandachieveacertainlevelofwell-being.Notethatthisisnotthesameasequalityinincome.Inequalityofincomesisnotonlyacceptable,butitmayevenbedesirablefortheincentivesitprovidesforpeopletodowell.Butinequalitiesinopportunitynotonlyharmtheindividualbutcanretardgrowth.
在一个公平的社会里,所有人不分家庭出身、财产状况、社会地位、性别、民族、阶级、种族、社会阶层,都有同等的机会去追求自己的生活,不管是求学,贷款,找工作还是参加公共辩论。因为人们在所付出的努力,利用时间的方式,敢于冒险的精神以及获取信息的方式等方面存在差异,使得即使在公平的社会里,收入的分配,教育水平,财产和其他资产也不可能均等。但是每个人都应有机会充分利用自己的精力和才智。如此不仅对个人是有益的,公正的和公平的,对整个社会也是有益的。因为从长期来看,公平和增长是互补的。公平并不是平等。今年的世界发展报告焦点在于公平。我在此所说的公平就是刚刚发布的报告中所提及的。在报告中,公平被定义为机会均等。机会可以使人们获得一定的收入,达到一定程度的富足。但注意这并不是说收入上的均等。收入上的不均等不仅是可以被接受的,而且会刺激人们做得更好。但是机会的不均等不仅不利于个体,还会阻碍发展。