Homi Kharas
Interview with author via McKinsey Global Institute podcast
Q: In your new book, you highlight the fact that we’ve now reached the point at which half the world’s population is middle class or richer. Four billion people, and by 2030, that could be five billion. So what’s driven that enormous growth, and what could continue to drive it?
A: I think the simplest answer I can give is technology. It was technology that started the emergence of the middle class in the 19th century when it became clear that literate clerks were needed to write contracts between banks and factory owners so the latter could expand. The technology of the Industrial Revolution drove the need for a healthy, educated population. And that drove a demand for teachers, doctors, nurses. Productivity started to rise, and that brought about a rise in wages.
