Branko Milanovic presents a bold new account of the dynamics that travel inequality on a worldwide scale. Drawing on vast data units and cutting-edge study, he explains the harmless and malign causes that make inequality rise and fall within and among nations. He also reveals who has been helped the most by globalization, who has been kept back again, and what guidelines might tilt the balance toward financial justice.

Global Inequality takes us back more than 100 years showing that inequality moves in about Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization cycles, fueled by war and disease, technological disruption, usage of education, and redistribution. The latest surge of inequality in the Western world has been driven by the revolution in technology. But even while inequality has soared within countries, it has dropped dramatically among countries. A more open migration policy would reduce global inequality even further.

Both American and Chinese inequality seems well entrenched and self-reproducing, though it really is difficult to predict if current trends will be derailed by emerging plutocracy, populism, or war. For those who want to comprehend how exactly we got where we are, where we might be heading, and what guidelines might help reverse that program, Milanovic’s compelling explanation may be the ideal place to start.