This paper enters the poverty debate by assessing the impact that a series of pro growth policies have on inequality and headcount poverty. We find that regardless of their impact on inequality, all the pro growth policies we consider lead to lower poverty levels in the long-run. However, we also find evidence indicating that some pro-growth policies may lead to higher inequality and, under plausible assumptions for the distribution of income, to higher poverty levels in the short-run. The possibility of policy interventions that increase poverty in the short-run but reduce it in the long-un appears when we allow income levels and income distribution to have different speeds of adjustment to policy changes.
