Elephant Graph Explains Rich-World Populism

The elephant graph—plotting income growth from 1988 to 2008 by global income rank—shows most of humanity (poor and middle-income in developing countries) and the global elite both gained substantially, while the lower-middle to middle class of the rich world sits at the graph's low point with stagnant wages; because this group is large and decisive in electing rich-world leaders, their accurate sense of being left behind helps explain the rise of populism, demagoguery, and authoritarianism.