We are looking forward to our December 10 event on “The Future of Global Capitalism.” Branko Milanovic, Graduate Center economist and scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, will discuss his new book, Capitalism, Alone (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019), in conversation with Janet Gornick, James K. Galbraith, and Marshall Steinbaum. For the event please register here.

In the book, Milanovic traces the history of the only economic system left on the planet, capitalism, and explores its trajectory into the future. Milanovic distinguishes between two forms of capitalism, „liberal meritocratic capitalism” and “political capitalism”. The former is currently prevalent in the democratic political systems of the world, the latter primarily in China. Milanovic offers a magisterial analysis of both types of systems and relates them to different historical stages. In the case of liberal capitalism, Milanovic sees the system as a new stage of capitalism in globalized democracies which succeeded an era of “Social democratic capitalism” that could be found both in the US and in Europe roughly between the end of World War II and the dawn of the 21st century.

The current stage of capitalism, both in its political and in its liberal form, tends to increase inequality within countries. To Milanovic who has written extensively about inequality, this is a serious problem because inequality tends to undermine democracy. Milanovic traces a possible future of capitalism that results in a convergence of liberal and political capitalism which would be the end of democracy as we know it. To combat this development and to preserve democracy in a system that he calls “People’s capitalism”, Milanovic makes four policy recommendations: High taxes on inherited wealth and tax advantages for the middle class; better funding for public schools to increase intergenerational social mobility; allowing migration without provoking nationalist backlash by ending the strict binary division between citizens and non-citizens in what he calls “citizenship light”; limited and strictly public funding for political campaigns to reduce the influence of well-off individuals.

Milanovic has written a thought-provoking book that is highly relevant for the discussion about the future compatibility of democracy and capitalism. We look forward to a wonderful discussion!