Let them eat cosmopolitanism
On unrealistic views of national politics
By R.A. | LONDON
TYLER COWEN has written a column on inequality, in which he notes that while inequality is rising within many economies it is falling globally. That is true, though it is worth pointing out that among the economies within which inequality is rising are large emerging markets like China and India. Still, the world's poor countries have become much less poor relative to the world's rich countries over the last few decades (though perhaps not relative to the rich in the world's rich countries) and that is unequivocally good news.
Mr Cowen wishes to use these trends to argue that concerns about inequality within countries, and calls for more egalitarian policies, are overblown. Some key passages:
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