“For them, the success of their own countries at becoming part of this international division of labor would be good news.”

The problem is that capital in capitalist countries is very heavily concentrated, especially financial capital. So then if the share of income from that source goes up, that actually exacerbates inequality.

Even if parties associated with right wing populism don’t win, they push other parties, the centrist parties, towards their position. So they do have an influence even if they’re not in power.

People in the rich countries who have done very well, who are at the top of the income pyramid, try to steamroll over the opposition of the middle without changing anything in social programs, or any redistribution. And they take their votes for a given.

While you can say that the problem of the middle class in the rich countries is too much globalization, the problem of the people who are very poor is really that they are not included in globalization.

And if we can’t unplug from that machine, eventually we’re going to become mindless.

After a while the car becomes just another thing that he owns. Moreover, when his neighbor next door buys two cars, in an instant our man feels wretchedly poor and deprived.

We have become disembodied. By being always somewhere else we are nowhere.

I have a motto: Work to become, not to acquire.

Mexico has become a robust democracy with a robust press and an active legislature.

The Welfare State, South Africa – and it becomes impossible to seriously confront any of them without understanding their historical background.

Since I’ve become a central banker, I’ve learned to mumble with great incoherence.

Besides the mistakes that are pointed out, I love the way readers become involved with the characters.