What’s happening to the World Income Distribution? The Elephant Chart revisited

Delivering sustainable economic growth
Apr 07, 2018 | Global Economy and Development Program, Brookings Institution, Homi Kharas, Brina Seidel

In 2013, Christoph Lakner and Branko Milanovic published a graph - dubbed the elephant chart - that depicts changes in income distribution between 1988 and 2008.  In this report by the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution, Homi Kharas and Brina Seidel examine how the four parts of the elephant chart - tail, torso, trough, and trunk- stand up to new data and new methods. They find that the global elite, in particular the top one percent, have enjoyed massive income growth; the global upper middle class has seen its incomes stagnate; the global middle class has risen rapidly; while the global extreme poor have largely been left behind, with several countries trapped in a cycle of poverty and violence. 
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/workingpaper114-elephantchartrevisited.pdf

print button Print
Related Articles:

Popular Articles

Poverty as a Wicked Problem

The belief that poverty can be prevented by identifying and dealing with its causes, and the...  Read More

Is Mars Ours?

Jun 13, 2021 | The New Yorker, Adam Mann

NASA and China having landed mobile rovers on the surface of Mars has raised the question of...  Read More

Think Local and Act Global - A Conversation with GGF 2030 fellow Cara Stauß

Nov 15, 2018 | Global Policy,

World affairs, diplomacy and trade are no longer solely the domain of nation-states, as cities...  Read More

Global Extreme Poverty

According to household surveys, 44 percent of the global population lived in absolute...  Read More

Popular Videos

A Message from Alan Doss, President of the Kofi Annan Foundation

Highlights from the G20 Think Tank Summit GLOBAL SOLUTIONS in Berlin

Happy Birthday Kofi Annan!

T20 Summit GLOBAL SOLUTIONS – Sean Cleary

Global Trends, Risks and Rewards — Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?