In a recent speech in Washington on "Back to Rio - the Road to a Sustainable Economic Future", IMF managing director Christine Lagarde cited recent IMF research showing that "countries with more equitable distributions of income are associated with greater macroeconomic stability and more sustainable growth over the longer term."
She announced an upcoming IMF paper "showing that government spending and taxes play a vital role in reducing inequality". She reiterated the IMF's joint work with the ILO, World Bank and other UN agencies on the social protection floor initiative, "which helps poor countries set up basic levels of protection at an affordable cost".
Furthermore, she argued that "jobs must be at the forefront of any strategy for inclusive growth" and spoke of the need for "decent and steady employment". Lagarde said that the IMF is "not a labour institution, and should not become one", but "we are collaborating closely with the International Labour Organization on employment and labour market issues [and] are also working with the International Trade Union Confederation, which represents the world's unions during these difficult days."The speech is available in seven languages on the IMF's web site: http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2012/061212.htm