The three eras of global inequality
Science & Cocktails is proud to present an episode with Branko Milanovic, world-renowned economist, Professor at the City University of New York, and author of many books including Global inequality: a new approach for the age of globalization, who will tell you about why global inequality seems to be decreasing but increasing within countries. All this after Søren Skov Orbit plays African-inspired modern jazz.
What is global inequality between citizens of the world? Why global inequality is falling and inequalities within countries are increasing? How is global inequality linked with migration? Why is the rise of China producing conflict?
Branko Milanovic will discuss the evolution in global inequality over the past two centuries, with the focus on the most recent 2008-2020 estimates and will draw political implications of the important changes that are taking place in the global distribution of income. In particular, it will focus on the rise of the middle class in Asia, income stagnation of the rich countries’ middle classes, reshuffling of global income positions between China and Asia in general, and the West, and the stability in the composition of the global top 1% of richest people in the world. Branko will discuss the possible future evolution of global inequality in which the roles of India and large African countries will become increasingly important.
Event held in English with the generous support of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Talk by
Branko Milanovic
Research professor at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and senior scholar at The Stone Center on Socio-economic Inequality; Visiting Professor at the Institute for International Inequalities at LSE; was lead economist in World Bank Research Department for almost 20 years and senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. Milanovic’s main area of work is income inequality, in individual countries and globally, as well as historically among pre-industrial societies. His most recent books are Global inequality: a new approach for the age of globalization which deals with economic and political issues of globalization, and Capitalism, Alone that contrasts inequality and class formation in societies of liberal and political capitalism. In October 2023, he published Visions of Inequality that looks at how income distribution was studied by the most famous economists over the past 200 years. Milanovic was awarded (jointly with Mariana Mazzucato) the 2018 Leontieff Prize.
Music by
Søren Skov Orbit
Tenor and soprano saxophonist Søren Skov (Debre Damo Dining Orchestra) and keyboardist Peder Vind co-founded the trippy quintet Søren Skov Orbit in 2016 to explore “more jazzy ideas,” as the saxophonist puts it. Joined by a rhythm section steeped in contemporary improvisation and psychedelia, bassist Casper Nyvang. Rask, drummer Rune Lohse and percussionist Ayi Solomon of the legendary 80's Ghanaian roots/highlife band Classique Vibes, the Orbit belts out a richly focused helping of broadly African-inspired modern jazz with a hazy sheen.
