Branko Milanovic
Economist specialising in global income inequality; formerly lead economist in the World Bank research department, now at the CUNY Graduate Center and author of the Global Inequality and More newsletter.
Branko Milanovic did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
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What they believe
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Capitalists' incomes are likely to rise because wealthy people own AI companies, so a rising capital share means higher income inequality.
Income of capitalists is likely to increase because AI companies are owned by actual people and these people, like shareholders in general, are well-off. Thus the rise in the capital share also means rising incomes of the rich and higher inequality of income.
branko2f7.substack.comSaid 14 Sept 2026This on korrents
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NATO expansion is dangerous above all because it has no defined end point
That reckless expansion is particularly dangerous because it lacks an end point.
branko2f7.substack.comSaid 31 Aug 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Feed
As its own page →Hiding
13 October
28 September
25 September
14 September
From one piece Three types of literature regarding the world of AI 2 beliefs · branko2f7.substack.com
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korrents.com
The more one believes AI may cause unspecified unpredictable problems, the stronger the case for state control of it.Their words
The more we believe that IA may cause non-specified and unpredictable problems, the stronger the argument for its control by the state.
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Their words
Income of capitalists is likely to increase because AI companies are owned by actual people and these people, like shareholders in general, are well-off. Thus the rise in the capital share also means rising incomes of the rich and higher inequality of income.
1 September
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Recommendsrcmnd.app
China as a System @leonliaoTheir words
One of the very few Substacks that indeed deals with China "as a system". Not what you might find elsewhere.
31 August
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Their words
That reckless expansion is particularly dangerous because it lacks an end point.
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Lovedrcmnd.app
The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from HistoryTheir words
It is a quick read, an excellent book whose main virtue is not, in my opinion, direct analogy with the World War I, but a treatment of how in a multipolar world relatively small international events, misunderstandings, idiosyncratic fits of leaders, “hubris and fear” (as Westad often writes), resentment of the elite and of the public prodded by the media, can produce colossal miscalculations which then produce even more colossal wars and, in the era of the weapons of mass destruction, may end the civilization.
26 August
From one piece On European hypocrisy and warmongering 4 beliefs · branko2f7.substack.com
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korrents.com
Prolonging the war in Ukraine courts a nuclear escalation whose risk is being treated as though it were zero.Their words
Not only is the idea of an endless war immoral, but it plays with an immense risk of nuclear escalation.
On European hypocrisy and warmongeringbranko2f7.substack.com
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Their words
Such, indeed fragile, peace not only puts an end to today’s carnage, but leaves open a possibility of eventual long-term solution between Russia and Ukraine.
On European hypocrisy and warmongeringbranko2f7.substack.com
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korrents.com
Small European states can demand a war with Russia only because they assume somebody else will fight it.Their words
It is also hypocritical because it is based on the assumption that somebody else (in this case, the United States) will fight for them.
On European hypocrisy and warmongeringbranko2f7.substack.com
+ 1 more
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Their words
The Nordic-Baltic warmongering under the current conditions is therefore (i) irresponsible, (ii) hypocritical, (iii) immoral, and (iv) flirts with a disaster of immense proportions.
On European hypocrisy and warmongeringbranko2f7.substack.com
18 August
15 August
10 August
6 August
26 July
20 July
14 July
12 July
From one piece A self-absorbed giant 4 beliefs · branko2f7.substack.com
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korrents.com
China's cultural and intellectual output to the world is far smaller than its economic weight.Their words
It surely does not “produce” one quarter of world culture or intellectual activity (if the latter is defined as influential books, of fiction and non-fiction, politics, history; films, plastic arts, music, theater etc.)
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korrents.com
China had more ideological influence in the world during the Cultural Revolution than it has today.Their words
Paradoxically, China might have had more soft power when it followed self-destructive policies of Maoist Cultural Revolution.
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korrents.com
China's economic success has produced no transferable blueprint that other poor countries could follow.Their words
China’s tremendous success had not resulted in a blueprint that could be followed from Afghanistan to Zambia on how to become rich in four decades.
+ 1 more
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korrents.com
Chinese writers' preoccupation with China alone is what limits China's soft power abroad.Their words
To come to my key point: this self-concentration limits China’s ideological influence in the rest of the world and its soft power.
11 June
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 19 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Capitalists' incomes are likely to rise because wealthy people own AI companies, so a rising capital share means higher income inequality.
Income of capitalists is likely to increase because AI companies are owned by actual people and these people, like shareholders in general, are well-off. Thus the rise in the capital share also means rising incomes of the rich and higher inequality of income.
Three types of literature regarding the world of AI Said 14 Sept 2026
The more one believes AI may cause unspecified unpredictable problems, the stronger the case for state control of it.
The more we believe that IA may cause non-specified and unpredictable problems, the stronger the argument for its control by the state.
Three types of literature regarding the world of AI Said 14 Sept 2026
NATO expansion is dangerous above all because it has no defined end point
That reckless expansion is particularly dangerous because it lacks an end point.
Lions of today, sheep of tomorrow Said 31 Aug 2026
Show 16 more
The Nordic and Baltic push for confrontation with Russia is irresponsible, hypocritical and immoral, and it risks a catastrophe.
The Nordic-Baltic warmongering under the current conditions is therefore (i) irresponsible, (ii) hypocritical, (iii) immoral, and (iv) flirts with a disaster of immense proportions.
On European hypocrisy and warmongering Said 26 Aug 2026
Small European states can demand a war with Russia only because they assume somebody else will fight it.
It is also hypocritical because it is based on the assumption that somebody else (in this case, the United States) will fight for them.
On European hypocrisy and warmongering Said 26 Aug 2026
A ceasefire along the current lines would end the killing and still leave a long-term settlement between Russia and Ukraine possible.
Such, indeed fragile, peace not only puts an end to today’s carnage, but leaves open a possibility of eventual long-term solution between Russia and Ukraine.
On European hypocrisy and warmongering Said 26 Aug 2026
Prolonging the war in Ukraine courts a nuclear escalation whose risk is being treated as though it were zero.
Not only is the idea of an endless war immoral, but it plays with an immense risk of nuclear escalation.
On European hypocrisy and warmongering Said 26 Aug 2026
Chinese writers' preoccupation with China alone is what limits China's soft power abroad.
To come to my key point: this self-concentration limits China’s ideological influence in the rest of the world and its soft power.
A self-absorbed giant Said 12 Jul 2026
China's economic success has produced no transferable blueprint that other poor countries could follow.
China’s tremendous success had not resulted in a blueprint that could be followed from Afghanistan to Zambia on how to become rich in four decades.
A self-absorbed giant Said 12 Jul 2026
China had more ideological influence in the world during the Cultural Revolution than it has today.
Paradoxically, China might have had more soft power when it followed self-destructive policies of Maoist Cultural Revolution.
A self-absorbed giant Said 12 Jul 2026
China's cultural and intellectual output to the world is far smaller than its economic weight.
It surely does not “produce” one quarter of world culture or intellectual activity (if the latter is defined as influential books, of fiction and non-fiction, politics, history; films, plastic arts, music, theater etc.)
A self-absorbed giant Said 12 Jul 2026
The post-Cold War order, like the Versailles order before it, was badly structured at its inception and carried the seeds of its own destruction
Both systems were badly structured at their very inception (Versailles and the end of the Cold War). Both contained within themselves the seeds of destruction.
Devant la guerre Said 5 Dec 2024
The neoliberal order did not simply spread around the world: the United States made it global.
In fact, the US was a key actor in making the neoliberal order go global.
The end of the great order under the Heaven Said 22 Aug 2024
The fall of communism removed the reason Western capital had to accommodate labour.
With the declining appeal of communism and then its eventual fall, there was much less need to acquiesce to labor’s demands.
The end of the great order under the Heaven Said 22 Aug 2024
The climate policy everyone has quietly assumed is that poorer countries stay poor, and that is the wrong answer.
From these exchanges I got the impression that they were unaware of just how unequal and poor (yes, poor) the world is today and what would be the trade-offs if we really were to decide to fix the volume of goods and services produced and consumed in the world at the current level.
The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world Said 18 Nov 2017
Freezing world output at today's level would condemn a quarter of humanity to permanent abject poverty.
Then, unless we change the distribution of income, we are condemning to permanent abject poverty some 15 percent of world population that currently earn less than $1.90 per day and some quarter of humankind who earn less than $2.50 per day.
The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world Said 18 Nov 2017
Degrowth shared out equally would cut the incomes of everyone above the world average by about two-thirds.
How much of a reduction would this imply for the global top 27% (those with incomes above the global mean)? Their incomes would have to be cut by almost two-thirds.
The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world Said 18 Nov 2017
Degrowth would require the world to go from an inequality worse than South Africa's to a complete equality no recorded society has ever had.
The world would have to move from an inequality level that is higher than that of South Africa to complete equality that has never existed in any recorded society.
The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world Said 18 Nov 2017
The way to cut emissions is to tax the most emission-intensive goods, not to stop growth.
It would make more sense, if we want to think seriously about how to reduce emissions, not to engage in the illusions of degrowth in a very poor and unequal world but to think how the most emission-intensive goods and services could be taxed in order to reduce their consumption.
The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world Said 18 Nov 2017
Beliefs others hold too
China's cultural and intellectual output to the world is far smaller than its economic weight. 2 hold this
It surely does not “produce” one quarter of world culture or intellectual activity (if the latter is defined as influential books, of fiction and non-fiction, politics, history; films, plastic arts, music, theater etc.)
A self-absorbed giant Said 12 Jul 2026
The climate policy everyone has quietly assumed is that poorer countries stay poor, and that is the wrong answer. 2 hold this
From these exchanges I got the impression that they were unaware of just how unequal and poor (yes, poor) the world is today and what would be the trade-offs if we really were to decide to fix the volume of goods and services produced and consumed in the world at the current level.
The illusion of “degrowth” in a poor and unequal world Said 18 Nov 2017
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 9 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Recommends China as a System @leonliao
One of the very few Substacks that indeed deals with China "as a system". Not what you might find elsewhere.
branko2f7.substack.com 1 Sept 2026
Loved The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History
It is a quick read, an excellent book whose main virtue is not, in my opinion, direct analogy with the World War I, but a treatment of how in a multipolar world relatively small international events, misunderstandings, idiosyncratic fits of leaders, “hubris and fear” (as Westad often writes), resentment of the elite and of the public prodded by the media, can produce colossal miscalculations which then produce even more colossal wars and, in the era of the weapons of mass destruction, may end the civilization.
branko2f7.substack.com 31 Aug 2026
What others say about The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History →
Liked Peace and War
I am quoting Raymond Aron, who wrote a very important book published in the 1960s called Peace and War
branko2f7.substack.com 11 Apr 2026
Show 6 more
Liked Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism
As Quinn Slobodian documents in his excellent book Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism
branko2f7.substack.com 29 Aug 2025
What others say about Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism →
Liked Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany
However, after reading a few pages my original inhibitions were overturned and I bought the book.
branko2f7.substack.com 9 Aug 2025
Mixed on Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army Victory that Shaped World War II
Perhaps that Goldman makes, at times, too strong a case for the importune of the Nomonhan war, but the conflict surely deserves much more that the oblivion into which it seems to have been consigned by political historians.
branko2f7.substack.com 5 Jul 2025
What others say about Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army Victory that Shaped World War II →
Liked The Rebel's Clinic
Shatz brings this Plutarch-like exemplary life to the reader with adroitness and skillful attention to detail as well as awareness of Fanon’s uniqueness, both in terms of personality, and places: centers of the new world that he was trying to create.
branko2f7.substack.com 3 Jun 2025
Recommends The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939
There is no better time than now to read E. H. Carr’s The twenty years’ crisis 1919 39
branko2f7.substack.com 5 Dec 2024
Liked The social and political thought of Karl Marx
There Avineri draws on his excellent book published in 1968
branko2f7.substack.com 20 Jun 2024
What others say about The social and political thought of Karl Marx →
Where they publish
Blog glineq.blogspot.com His earlier 'globalinequality' blog, last posted in December 2024.
Link verified 4 Sept 2026.
Newsletter branko2f7.substack.com His Substack, where he publishes essays and long book reviews.
Recent
- Destruction and despair 13 Oct 2026 A review of “A Sentimental Journey 1917-1922” by Viktor Shklovsky
- Against purposeful activity and Abrahamic religions in a world of abundance 28 Sept 2026 A note on Keynes’ “Economic Possibilities…”
- My cousin, a non-person 25 Sept 2026 A twentieth-century story
Show 17 more
- Three types of literature regarding the world of AI 14 Sept 2026 Economics, politics and philosophy for a new era
- Lions of today, sheep of tomorrow 31 Aug 2026 Review of Odd Arne Westad’s “The Coming Storm”
- On European hypocrisy and warmongering 26 Aug 2026 When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the world reactions were predictable.
- The spirit of the nineties and the malaise of today 18 Aug 2026 It does not require great originality nor insightfulness to contrast the world of the 1990s and that of today.
- Apocalypse, When? 15 Aug 2026 On a new film about the Reagan-Gorbachev 1986 summit in Reykjavik
- The strange case of China’s urban consumption 10 Aug 2026 Why are rich not consuming?
- Ukraine, Lenin and Sultan-Galiev 6 Aug 2026 Re-reading Richard Pipes’ "The Formation of the Soviet Union"
- More on Trotsky and interpretation of Trotsky 26 Jul 2026 A quick reply to Alex Callinicos
- Sketching the new dysto-utopian world with massive presence of artificial intelligence 20 Jul 2026 A four-class society (a long read)
- Don’t ask me about my profits, but let’s talk about your wages 14 Jul 2026 How Western capitalists use China-bashing to deflect attention from their soaring profits
- A self-absorbed giant 12 Jul 2026 Dearth of Chinese lessons for the rest of the world
- International development: From moralizing to calculations to laissez-faire to rhetoric 11 Jun 2026 A review of Christian Christiansen’s “Designing Global Economic Equality”
- A different game 1 Jun 2026 On football’s extreme commercialization
- Artificial intelligence and future of capitalism from a Marxist, and a neoclassical, point of view 15 May 2026 What would be the likely effects of massive introduction of artificial intelligence in the economy, from the Marxist point of view?
- 99 percent Utopia and money 6 May 2026 For full happiness is possible only in stagnation.
- How the “virtues” of neoliberal globalization paved the way to its demise 28 Apr 2026 Cosmopolitanism and competition find their nemesis
- Asia’s Rise and the Self-Undermining Logic of Neoliberalism 11 Apr 2026 My conversation with Alice Liu from the Carter Center
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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