Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality, New York: Basic Books, 2011

“In a world of increasing inequality, the legitimacy of institutions that give precedence to the property rights of “the Haves” over the human rights of “the Have Nots” is inevitably called into serious question”, says Harvard economist David Korten . In our personal lives, inequality permeates every conversation, rearing its ugly head behind every career move, family planning or housing decision. Yet the field of economics has been slow to find the “serious question” that needs to be asked regarding inequality. Branko Milanovic’s “The Haves and the Have-Nots” provides economists with the questions they need to ask about inequality...