The Rise of the Global Middle Class
Homi Kharas delivers good news: in just two centuries, the world has moved from abject poverty to a middle class that includes half the world’s people. And further rapid progress is possible, including the end of poverty and billions added to the middle class. Kharas ably presents the facts, history, and underlying drivers of progress, but also highlights the huge challenges ahead, including the urgent need for global cooperation, social cohesion, quality education, environmental sustainability, and smart deployment of the new digital technologies. This is a deeply informed, humane, and timely book for readers everywhere.
The middle class is the most successful group in world history. Sometime before 2030 the fifth billionth person will join the middle class. What started a little over two hundred years ago as a search for a better life has fueled unprecedented global transformation. In his new book Homi Kharas looks at how this powerful dream captivated generations through history, but its demands have led younger generations to ask if it is all worth it. Can the middle class continue to thrive, or will it falter under the stresses of automation, consumerism, pollution, and political strife?
The Rise of the Global Middle Class traces the history of the middle class from its origins in Victorian England to present day India. Along the way we meet knocker-uppers who have been displaced by alarm clocks. We learn how the Chinese Communist Party drew legitimacy from its ability to enlarge the Chinese middle class.
Kharas proposes a new middle-class manifesto that addresses the pressing issues of inequality, climate change, and technological advances.
Praise