“The study of inequality wasn’t fashionable,” reflects Professor Tarani Chandola, Co-Director of HKU’s Stone Centre on Socioeconomic Inequality. “But people increasingly see you can’t wait.”

In a new interview with the HKU ESG Department, Professor Chandola discusses the launch of Asia’s first Stone Centre, funded by philanthropist James M. Stone and bringing together expertise from economics, sociology, public health, and beyond.

He shares how the Centre plans to tackle four interconnected themes: wealth concentration trends, economic policy, the ultra-wealthy in Asia, and the downstream effects of inequality on health, work, and governance. He also speaks to the Centre’s ambition to influence policy across the region, following the example of Stone-funded scholars in France whose ideas shaped political discourse.

“The study of inequality has never been more pressing,” he says, and this interview offers a compelling glimpse into why.

🔗 Read the full interview here: https://esg.hku.hk/story/understanding-the-roots-of-inequality/