The SDGs on poverty, gender and inequality indicate the focus of the UN’s equity concerns, indicating (hat greater weight is to be given to the well-being of some of the most disadvantaged portions of the population. Reducing financial hardship helps to potentially avoid other trade-offs and, over time, offers greater capacity to finance compensatory transfers to those most in need. We take these as given criteria for evaluating the outcome of government policy and choosing between alternatives. Instead, we will focus our attention on the SDGs highlighted in the remainder of the diagram.