Editor’s Pick: Global Equality and Its Discontents

Branko Milanovic on the Challenges of a Shrinking Income Gap | [Image](   [The Great Convergence]( [Global Equality and Its Discontents]( [By Branko Milanovic]( Global inequality is in decline as a result of rapid economic growth in China and East Asia—but “that does not mean that social and political turmoil in individual countries will diminish,” [writes Branko Milanovic in a new essay](. “If anything, the opposite is true.” Digging into the data, Milanovic discovers a trend that is hard to detect when looking only at national studies of inequality: “People in the lower-income groups of rich countries have historically ranked high in the global income distribution. But they are now being overtaken, in terms of their incomes, by people in Asia.” This means that many globally priced goods could become out of reach to middle-class people in the West. But more important, Milanovic warns, these changes to the global income ladder may stoke further domestic polarization in the West between “those who are wealthy by global standards and those who are not.” Read more from Foreign Affairs on inequality and the future of the global economy: “[The Global Economy’s Future Depends on Africa](” by Jack A. Goldstone and John F. May “[The Age of Slow Growth in China](” by Daniel H. Rosen “[People Over Robots](” by Lant Pritchett “[After Neoliberalism](” by Rana Foroohar “[What Happened to Social Mobility in America?](” by Branko Milanovic   [Subscribe to Foreign Affairs](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( © 2023 Council on Foreign Relations | 58 East 68th Street, New York NY | 10065 To ensure we can contact you, please add us to your email address book or safe list.This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Receiving too many emails? Unsubscribe and manage your email preferences [here.](