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Branko Milanovic

Wednesday 21st of January 2026

Communism I think there are fewer things that contributed more to the disenchantment of the population in communism than the ostentatious consumption patterns of their leaders. Granted, the value of these consumption goods was trivial compared to the spending patterns of today's oligarchs, or of the rich in the West and Latin America. The communist elite was relatively poor compared to other elites. But the point is that their behavior stood out so sharply because it was so blatantly in contradiction with the ideology they preached. Branko Milanovic, The Haves and Have Nots © 2019 Kwiple.com
Economic growth The tendency of capital to go from one rich country to another and more recently even to flow “upward” from poor to rich countries, as rich people from poor countries, fearful for their money and lives, invest abroad, has been termed the “Lucas paradox.” Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have Nots © 2019 Kwiple.com
Income inequality … citizenship and income class of his parents. These two factors explain more than 80 percent of a person's income. The remaining 20 percent or less is therefore due to other factors over which individuals have no control (gender, age, race, luck) and to the factors over which they do have control (effort or hard work). Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have Nots © 2019 Kwiple.com
Income inequality I was once told by the head of a prestigious think tank … [that its] board was very unlikely to fund any any work that had income  or wealth inequality  in its title. Yes, they would finance anything that had to do with poverty alleviation, but inequality was an altogether matter. Why? Charity is a good thing … But inequality is different: Every mention of it raises in fact the issue of the appropriateness or legitimacy of my income. Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have Nots © 2015 Kwiple.com
Income inequality One's income thus crucially depends on citizenship, which in turn means (in a world of rather low international migration) place of birth. All people born in rich countries receive a location premium or a location rent; all those born in poor countries get a location penalty. Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have Nots © 2019 Kwiple.com
Income inequality The poorest American ventile [bottom twentieth or bottom 5%] is at the 68th percentile of the world income distribution … This means that the poorest Americans are better off than more than two-thirds of the world's population. People in all other (higher) U.S. ventiles are, of course, even better off, and the richest Americans belong to the top world percentile. Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have Nots © 2019 Kwiple.com
 
Income inequality Today, it is much more important, globally speaking whether you are lucky enough to be born in a rich country than whether the income class to which you belong in a rich country is high, medium or low. Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have Nots © 2019 Kwiple.com