Please note this is a hybrid event - you have the option to attend in person or virtually. Registrations are required for all attendees. For in-person attendees, the event will run from 11:45 am - 2 pm and will include lunch. The live stream will begin at 12:55 pm (virtual attendees will be sent a link for the event via email).
Join DACOR and UAA for a conversation with Dr. Homi Kharas on his latest book The Rise of the Global Middle Class. The middle class is the most successful group in world history. Sometime before 2030 the fifth billionth person will join the middle class. What started a little over two hundred years ago as a search for a better life has fueled unprecedented global transformation. In his new book Homi Kharas looks at how this powerful dream captivated generations through history, but its demands have led younger generations to ask if it is all worth it. Can the middle class continue to thrive, or will it falter under the stresses of automation, consumerism, pollution, and political strife?
The Rise of the Global Middle Class traces the history of the middle class from its origins in Victorian England to present day India. Along the way we meet knocker-uppers who have been displaced by alarm clocks. We learn how the Chinese Communist Party drew legitimacy from its ability to enlarge the Chinese middle class.
Kharas proposes a new middle-class manifesto that addresses the pressing issues of inequality, climate change, and technological advances.
Homi Kharas is a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development, housed in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. In that capacity, he studies policies and trends influencing developing countries, including aid to poor countries, the emergence of the middle class, and global governance and the G-20. He previously served as interim vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development program.
He has served as the lead author and executive secretary of the secretariat supporting the High Level Panel, co-chaired by President Sirleaf, President Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Cameron, advising the U.N. Secretary General on the post-2015 development agenda (2012-2013). The report, “A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development,” was presented on May 30, 2013.
His most recent co-authored/edited books are “The Rise of the Global Middle Class” (Brookings Press, 2023), “Breakthrough: The Promise of Frontier Technologies for Sustainable Development” (Brookings Press, 2022), “Leave No One Behind” (Brookings Press, 2019), “From Summits to Solutions: Innovations in Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals” (Brookings Press, 2018), “The Imperative of Development” (Brookings Press, 2017), “The Last Mile in Ending Extreme Poverty” (Brookings Press, 2015), “Getting to Scale: How to Bring Development Solutions to Millions of Poor People” (Brookings Press, 2013), “After the Spring: Economic Transitions in the Arab World” (Oxford University Press, 2012), and “Catalyzing Development: A New Vision for Aid” (Brookings Press, 2011). He has published articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces on global development policy, global trends, the global food crisis, international organizations, the G20, the DAC, and private philanthropy.
He has served as a member of the High Level Panel on the Reform of the Development Assistance Committee (2017); the International Panel Review Committee on Malaysia’s economic and governance transformation programs (2012); the post-Busan Advisory Group to the DAC co-chairs (2011); the National Economic Advisory Council to the Malaysian Prime Minister (2009-10); and a member of the Working Group for the Commission on Growth and Development, chaired by Professor A. Michael Spence (2007-10). He was a nonresident fellow of the OECD Development Center (2009). He has consulted for various organizations including the government of Sweden; World Bank Group; the United Nations; the International Fund for Agriculture Development; the OECD; the Japan International Cooperation Agency; the Global Fund Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the Qatar National Research Fund; and the Centennial Group. He acts as an adviser to a number of organizations.
Prior to joining Brookings, Dr. Kharas spent 26 years at the World Bank, serving for seven years as Chief Economist for the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific region and Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, Finance and Private Sector Development, responsible for the Bank’s advice on structural and economic policies, fiscal issues, debt, trade, governance, and financial markets.
Location
Setting: Hybrid DACOR Bacon House OR Online 1801 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 UNITED STATES
