EP 721 Is a Rising Global Middle Class a Good Thing?

How could it be anything but?  More people around the globe are being lifted out of poverty than ever before.  In fact, half of the world’s population can count themselves in that number and the pace of that growth on a global scale is faster than ever in human history.  As we reach the 5 billion number by 2030 one could argue that this is great news.  And it is.  But the outgrowth of such growth and demand for products and services are byproducts like more pollution, thus a faster acceleration of problems related to climate change, and growing competition between the mature middle class and the growing demands of the now hard charging Asian middle class.  And then’s there’s the question as to whether this middle class status actually buys the happiness that many imagine.  We discuss all this and more today with Homi Kharas, author of “The Rise of the Global Middle Class: How the Search for the Good Life Can Change the World.”

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