Paul Krugman: How Soaring Inequality May Lead the World Down the Path of Fascism [View all]

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January 2, 2015 | We live in scary times, Paul Krugman writes in his Friday New York Times column. So scary that they put the esteemed economist in mind of 1930s Europe.

The rising inequality problem, well established by Thomas Piketty’s “ Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, has concentrated so much wealth in the hands of so few, while millions of other live in what Krugman poetically calls the "Valley of the despond."

The only other group that is doing well, besides the global elite, says Krugman, is "what we might call the global middle — largely consisting of the rising middle classes of China and India." For a crystal clear view if what is going on he suggests consulting a remarkable chart of income gains around the world produced by Branko Milanovic of the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Of course, there is a huge plus side to rising incomes for those living in those developing nations where hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of terrible poverty. But in advanced countries, there are also worrisome signs on the horizon:

Full article http://www.alternet.org/economy/paul-krugman-how-soaring-inequality-may-lead-world-down-path-fascism

And don't think for a minute we're immune.