Branko Milanovic is Lead Economist in the World Bank research department, working on income inequality and poverty. The author of "Income, Inequality, and Poverty during the Transition" and the coauthor of "Income and Influence: Social Policy in Emerging Market Economies", he is currently an associate scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a visiting professor at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2005 "The history of world inequality is a fascinating subject, and Branko Milanovic's very readable book uses this as a backdrop to explain the problems of measuring inequality when we look across different countries... [I]t is certainly an interesting read."--Huw Dixon, Times Higher Education Supplement "A lead economist at the World Bank, Branko Milanovic has written probably the most comprehensive, thorough and balanced assessment yet of global inequality... Milanovic makes a powerful and distressing argument for the intractability of inequality. His expertise and integrity inform every page."--Thomas Homer-Dixon,The Globe and Mail "Branko Milanovic masterfully explores standard and new measures of income inequality among nations and among individuals, extraterritorially... The work should be required reading for anyone involved in social and economic research and policy relating to income inequality worldwide."--Choice "Branko Milanovic makes a difficult subject remarkably accessible. His expertise and intellectual integrity inform every page."--Thomas Homer-Dixon, Toronto Globe and Mail "Worlds Apart offers a thorough description of relative inequalities in the world, and does so by setting research quality standards to which future studies should be held."--Camelia Minouiu, Ethics and International Affairs

• Acknowledgments vii Prologue: The Promise of the Twentieth Century 1 Introduction: A Topic Whose Time Has Come 3 PART I: SETTING THE STAGE Chapter 1: The Three Concepts of Inequality Defined 7 Chapter 2: Other Differences between the Concepts 12 Chapter 3: International and World Inequality Compared 20 PART II: INEQUALITY AMONG COUNTRIES Chapter 4: Rising Differences in Per Capita Incomes 31 Chapter 5: Regional Convergence, Divergence, or ... "Vergence" 45 Chapter 6: The Shape of International GDP Per Capita Distribution 51 Chapter 7: Winners and Losers: Increasing Dominance of the West 61 PART III: GLOBAL INEQUALITY Chapter 8: Concept 2 Inequality: Decreasing in the Past Twenty Years 85 Chapter 9: High Global Inequality: No Trend? 101 Chapter 10: A World without a Middle Class 128 PART IV: CONCLUDING COMMENTS Chapter 11: The Three Concepts of Inequality in Historical Perspective 139 Chapter 12: Why Does Global Inequality Matter and What to Do about It? 149 Appendixes 1-7 163 Notes 195 References 213 Index of Authors 223 Index of Subjects 225

Branko Milanovic is Lead Economist in the World Bank research department, working on income inequality and poverty. The author of "Income, Inequality, and Poverty during the Transition" and the coauthor of "Income and Influence: Social Policy in Emerging Market Economies", he is currently an associate scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a visiting professor at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2005 "The history of world inequality is a fascinating subject, and Branko Milanovic's very readable book uses this as a backdrop to explain the problems of measuring inequality when we look across different countries... [I]t is certainly an interesting read."--Huw Dixon, Times Higher Education Supplement "A lead economist at the World Bank, Branko Milanovic has written probably the most comprehensive, thorough and balanced assessment yet of global inequality... Milanovic makes a powerful and distressing argument for the intractability of inequality. His expertise and integrity inform every page."--Thomas Homer-Dixon,The Globe and Mail "Branko Milanovic masterfully explores standard and new measures of income inequality among nations and among individuals, extraterritorially... The work should be required reading for anyone involved in social and economic research and policy relating to income inequality worldwide."--Choice "Branko Milanovic makes a difficult subject remarkably accessible. His expertise and intellectual integrity inform every page."--Thomas Homer-Dixon, Toronto Globe and Mail "Worlds Apart offers a thorough description of relative inequalities in the world, and does so by setting research quality standards to which future studies should be held."--Camelia Minouiu, Ethics and International Affairs

• Acknowledgments vii Prologue: The Promise of the Twentieth Century 1 Introduction: A Topic Whose Time Has Come 3 PART I: SETTING THE STAGE Chapter 1: The Three Concepts of Inequality Defined 7 Chapter 2: Other Differences between the Concepts 12 Chapter 3: International and World Inequality Compared 20 PART II: INEQUALITY AMONG COUNTRIES Chapter 4: Rising Differences in Per Capita Incomes 31 Chapter 5: Regional Convergence, Divergence, or ... "Vergence" 45 Chapter 6: The Shape of International GDP Per Capita Distribution 51 Chapter 7: Winners and Losers: Increasing Dominance of the West 61 PART III: GLOBAL INEQUALITY Chapter 8: Concept 2 Inequality: Decreasing in the Past Twenty Years 85 Chapter 9: High Global Inequality: No Trend? 101 Chapter 10: A World without a Middle Class 128 PART IV: CONCLUDING COMMENTS Chapter 11: The Three Concepts of Inequality in Historical Perspective 139 Chapter 12: Why Does Global Inequality Matter and What to Do about It? 149 Appendixes 1-7 163 Notes 195 References 213 Index of Authors 223 Index of Subjects 225

Branko Milanovic is Lead Economist in the World Bank research department, working on income inequality and poverty. The author of "Income, Inequality, and Poverty during the Transition" and the coauthor of "Income and Influence: Social Policy in Emerging Market Economies", he is currently an associate scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a visiting professor at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2005 "The history of world inequality is a fascinating subject, and Branko Milanovic's very readable book uses this as a backdrop to explain the problems of measuring inequality when we look across different countries... [I]t is certainly an interesting read."--Huw Dixon, Times Higher Education Supplement "A lead economist at the World Bank, Branko Milanovic has written probably the most comprehensive, thorough and balanced assessment yet of global inequality... Milanovic makes a powerful and distressing argument for the intractability of inequality. His expertise and integrity inform every page."--Thomas Homer-Dixon,The Globe and Mail "Branko Milanovic masterfully explores standard and new measures of income inequality among nations and among individuals, extraterritorially... The work should be required reading for anyone involved in social and economic research and policy relating to income inequality worldwide."--Choice "Branko Milanovic makes a difficult subject remarkably accessible. His expertise and intellectual integrity inform every page."--Thomas Homer-Dixon, Toronto Globe and Mail "Worlds Apart offers a thorough description of relative inequalities in the world, and does so by setting research quality standards to which future studies should be held."--Camelia Minouiu, Ethics and International Affairs

• Acknowledgments vii Prologue: The Promise of the Twentieth Century 1 Introduction: A Topic Whose Time Has Come 3 PART I: SETTING THE STAGE Chapter 1: The Three Concepts of Inequality Defined 7 Chapter 2: Other Differences between the Concepts 12 Chapter 3: International and World Inequality Compared 20 PART II: INEQUALITY AMONG COUNTRIES Chapter 4: Rising Differences in Per Capita Incomes 31 Chapter 5: Regional Convergence, Divergence, or ... "Vergence" 45 Chapter 6: The Shape of International GDP Per Capita Distribution 51 Chapter 7: Winners and Losers: Increasing Dominance of the West 61 PART III: GLOBAL INEQUALITY Chapter 8: Concept 2 Inequality: Decreasing in the Past Twenty Years 85 Chapter 9: High Global Inequality: No Trend? 101 Chapter 10: A World without a Middle Class 128 PART IV: CONCLUDING COMMENTS Chapter 11: The Three Concepts of Inequality in Historical Perspective 139 Chapter 12: Why Does Global Inequality Matter and What to Do about It? 149 Appendixes 1-7 163 Notes 195 References 213 Index of Authors 223 Index of Subjects 225