The Globalization of Inequality

Description

In The Globalization of Inequality, distinguished economist and policymaker Francois Bourguignon examines the complex and paradoxical links between a vibrant world economy that has raised the living standard of over half a billion people in emerging nations such as China, India, and Brazil, and the exponentially increasing inequality within countri

Francois Bourguignon is professor emeritus and former director at the Paris School of Economics. From 2003 to 2007 he was chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank.

One of Financial Times Best Books in Economics of the Year Selected for A Financial Times Summer Books selection One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Books in Economics 2015, chosen by Martin Wolf A Financial Times Summer Books 2015 selection "This timely and excellent primer on income inequality both within and among nations deserves to be read by both occupiers and occupants of Wall Street."--Publishers Weekly "Globalization has unleashed powerful forces: some wonderful, some worrying. This book can take you beyond the cliches to an understanding of what is going on and what can be done about it."--Sir Paul Collier, Prospect "Readers wanting a map of the terrain should read Bourguignon... Inequality is an important and complex subject. On the biggest issue of all--global inequality--the recent news has been good. The story on inequality within countries is less appealing, however. [The Globalization of Inequality] tells this complex story well."--Martin Wolf, Financial Times "This book is written in calm prose, but its message is urgent: continue as we are and poverty will grow on our doorsteps."--Danny Dorling, Times Higher Education "Recommended for readers seeking a brief, less technical introduction to economic inequality within and among nations."--Library Journal "Bourguignon carefully wends his way among the definitions of inequality and its multiple, sometimes conflicting measures... This book is written for the layman but is nonetheless intellectually rigorous. It sets out the causes of and some remedies for a problem that urgently needs to be solved if we are to avoid what the book's title warns against, the globalization of inequality."--Brenda Jubin, Seeking Alpha "[Bourguignon's] compact book takes readers through most of the suspected causes and possible cures for what he and many believe is a destructive phenomenon... Now that this French academic's thoughts will be reaching an English-language audience, his translators may have little time to rest. Inequality is nearly everywhere. Certainly the world's politicians will continue to need such bedtime reading."--Tim Ferguson, Forbes.com "Move over, Thomas Piketty. Anyone who has been put off by the French economist's overblown and overly long book on inequality now has a succinct alternative, The Globalization of Inequality. In a mere 189 pages, Francois Bourguignon provides a measured introduction to what is right and what is wrong about current trends in the dispersion of incomes."--Edward Hadas, Reuters BreakingViews "Bourguignon sets out the figures in careful detail, distinguishing between increases in inequality within countries and changes between countries."--Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist "Bourguignon ... presents a thoughtful and judicious analysis of economic inequality... The book is highly accessible yet also sophisticated, drawing on a large and growing technical and empirical literature on inequality."--Foreign Affairs "Bourguignon has written a succinct, useful guide to the current state of world inequality. With words and data, he draws the useful distinction between within-country inequality and between-country inequality ... in contrast to the authors of most studies of economic problems, who do a solid job laying out the patterns of concern and considering their causes but only hand wave toward solutions, Bourguignon spends significant space considering policy approaches to reducing both forms of inequality."--Choice "The sooner we listen to Bourguignon, Piketty, Atkinson et al, the better."-- Mark Goldring, Resurgence & Ecologist "A concise and nontechnical masterpiece of exceptional analytical and policy clarity. [Bourguignon's] professional expertise and policy involvement shine through in every chapter. Although the book is written for concerned global citizens, professional economists and other social scientists can learn much from reading it."--Gary Fields, ILR Review