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Why Rich (ilics Robol

Oct22.201$ | JEFFREY 0. SACHS

Having lost touch with public senciment, officials in Paris, Hong Kong. and Santiago failed to anticipate thaz a seemingly modesz policy aczion (afuel-tcx increase, on exzradizion bill, and higher metro pricet, respectńely) would trigger a massive social explosion

EW YORK- Three of the world’s morę affluent cities have erupted in protests and unrest this year. Paris has faced waves of protests and rioting sińce November 2018; soon after Frenoh President Emmanuel J.lacror. raised fuel tar.es. Hong Kong has been in uphearal sińce March, after Chief Erecuure Carrie Lam proposed a law to alłow ertradiuon to the Chinese mainland. .And Santiago erploded in rioting this month after President Sebastian Pińera ordered an increase in metro prices. Each protest has its disunct lcca! factors. but. taken together. they tell a larger story of what can happen when a sense of unfaimess combines with a widespread percepticn of Iow social mobiliry.

Why Ricli (jlios Robol

JEFFREY D. SACHS asks haw rslacivslv nśn:: paliry chanscs could

By the traditional metric of GDP per capiza. the three cities are paragons of economic success. Fer capiza income is around S4O.CC0 in Hong Kong. morę than S60,CC0 in Paris. and around S1S.CC0 in Santiago, one of the weahhiest dties in Latm America. In the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum, Hong Kong ranks third, France 13th, and Chile 33rd (the best in Latin America by a wide margin).

Yet. while these countries are quite r.ch and competitr/e by corwenuonal standards, their populadons are dissadsSed with kev aspects of their lives. According to the 2019 World