Episode Details

Branko Milanovic joins the show to discuss his latest book, The Great Global Transformation: The United States, China, and the Remaking of the World Economic Order (2026). We discuss the emergence of a new elite; similarities between Trump, Putin, and Xi; and “national market liberalism” in a multipolar world.

Branko Milanovic is a Research Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and former lead economist at the World Bank. He is the author of Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization (2016), Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World (2019), and Visions of Inequality: From the French Revolution to the End of the Cold War (2023), and The Great Global Transformation: The United States, China, and the Remaking of the World Economic Order (2026).

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*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.

Timestamps

• 00:00:00 Introduction
• 00:00:40 The Great Global Transformation
• 00:05:00 Towards a new convergence theory?
• 00:08:00 Homoploutia and the new capitalists
• 00:10:15 Does capitalism create the same elites everywhere?
• 00:13:30 How does global redistribution of wealth affect domestic politics
• 00:19:15 Evolving state-elite relations  
• 00:24:30 AI and the new arms race
• 00:30:30 National market liberalism
• 00:34:35 The nation-state in a changing world order
• 00:37:30 Economic spheres of influence
• 00:40:00 Nationalism as an alternative to globalism?
• 00:42:40 How can West and East be defined?
• 00:47:00 Warmongering of European elites
• 00:49:40 Irresponsibility of small states

Show Links:

• The Great Global Transformation

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