The «great convergence»: global equality and its drawbacks

Since the turn of the century, income inequality has been declining worldwide. However, they are increasing in China, India, Russia, the USA and within European countries - but not in Switzerland. Here we explain an unprecedented phenomenon that is set to continue.

Branko Milanovic’s original article appeared in English in the American magazine *Foreign Affairs*. *Le Regard Libre* added a section on Switzerland to it.

We live in an era marked by inequality—or so we often hear. All over the world, but especially in the wealthy economies of the West, the gap between the rich and everyone else has reportedly widened year after year, turning into a chasm that spreads anxiety, fuels resentment, and destabilizes political life. This phenomenon is said to be the root of all evils: from social mobility—