No question we're heading for a globalized "progressive era" to match what America experienced at the end/turn of the 19th/20th centuries. Been talking that one for about five years now, and it was THE major theme of "Great Powers" back in 2009. Now the Economist joins in.
But this historical chart is interesting. Note the rising inequality across Europe's long colonial age (let's say 1800 to 1950) and then look at what happens when US-style globalization kicks in (1950-now): It slows, despite the ginormous wealth creation globally, and even flattens out and peaks across the period of its truest expression (1990-now).
To be sure, the 1% are slicing off too much wealth - just like during America's Gilded Age, thus my long-standing prediction of a necessary progressive era on a global scale led by coastal megacities (like NYC led ours and re-attempts to do so today with Bloomberg). But an interesting difference between how Europe ran the world and how we've managed to do it.
