Branko Milanovic on Inequality, Globalization, and Populism

Visiting Presidential Professor Branko Milanovic, who is also a senior scholar at the GC's Luxembourg Income Study Center, was cited in Politico on the connection between income inequality, globalization, and populism.

A recent blog post by Milanovic, ahead of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, showed that income share for the middle four deciles in wealthy countries including England and Germany has declined by between one and four GDP points over the last three decades.
 
In the United States, "populism is rooted in the failure of globalization to deliver palpable benefits to its working class," Milanovic wrote.

However, populism is driven by different forces in several other countries, such as crony capitalism in Russia and an inadequate political system in China, he added.
 
"Once we see the correct cause of the problem, we can begin to try to solve it," Milanovic wrote on his blog, globalinequality. "Otherwise, the sickness of populism, which for all problems blames globalization and foreigners, in the three major powers that control 98 percent of all nuclear weapons in the world, is indeed a cause for major concern."