The share of China, India and other emerging economies in the global middle class is projected to surpass 50% by the middle of the 21st century. The European Union and United States will shring to 10% of the global middle class consumption.
Good news: The number of countries which respect democracy and human rights has doubled over the last 50 years. Bad news: This trend is not universal and the freedom in the world has stagnated over the last decade.
There is a strong correlation between oil and food prices. One explanation of this “pass-through” is the rising share of biofuels in the energy mix.
At the peak of the Euro-Atlantic dominance over the world, the economic gravitational center was located near Iceland. Since then, it has been moving back east closer to the fast growing economies of China and India.
For millennia, human development has been regulated by the laws of nature. After the Industrial Revolution a part of the world has escaped from the Malthusian trap. Other parts are still catching-up.
The global distribution of income looks like a “champagne glass”. 20 % of the world’s richest people get more than 80 % of the world’s income, while the poorest 20 % get only 1%.
Demographic transition is a historical shift in societies from high birth rates and high infant death rates to low birth rates and low death rates. Most African countries find themselves in the second or third stage.
In 1971, direct convertibility of the dollar into gold ended. The market price of gold fluctuates, but the gold content of the dollar continues to decline as new money is printed.
Since the end of the Cold War, the number of armed conflicts in the world has been declining. However, the share of civil wars and internal conflicts is growing.