A few days ago, in the presentation of the Economics Note Speaking at the Catalan government's conference on shared prosperity, economist Branko Milanovic recalled an idea that helps explain many of the political tensions we are experiencing in the West. We have been talking for years about polarization, distrust in institutions, and the crisis of liberal democracies. But we often struggle to connect these phenomena with the economic changes that have shaped the world in recent years.

Inequality is growing in Europe, but it has fallen in recent years in Spain thanks to the strong performance of the labor market. senior of the Bank of Spain Laura Hospido, and the deputy director of the Foundation for Applied Economic Studies (Fedea, the think tank of banking and other large Spanish companies), José Ignacio Conde.