Leaders avoid setting anti-poverty targets they cannot meet

POVERTY is something we cannot afford, according to the European Commissioner with the not very sexy portfolio of employment, social affairs and inclusion.

The usual arguments for reducing poverty are social ones, but the Commissioner, Laszlo Andor, is an economist who has worked for organisations from trade unions to the World Bank and uses a different context.

The 43-year-old Hungarian, who has spent much time in academia, and has come through American and British universities, says poverty is very expensive for a country, and insists reducing it is not about more spending or creating deficits.