WE'VE been pointed towards this interesting chart, from a new paper by two economists at the Peterson Institute, a think-tank. It shows that development economists have much to be cheerful about. The chart shows the estimated global per-capita income distribution at three years: 2003, 2013 and 2035. From 2003 to 2013, global income inequality fell. There were fewer people bunched at extreme levels of poverty. The Gini coefficient of global inequality fell from 69 in 2003 to 65 in 2013. And median income rose from about $1,000 to $2,000 in just ten years.

The authors of the paper, Thomas Hellebrandt and Paolo Mauro, think that the next twenty years will be even better, largely thanks to rapid growth in emerging-market economies. Hundreds of millions will be lifted out of abject poverty due to strong growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. And as China's economy continues to expand, consumption patterns of people living there will start to look more like those in the West. As a result, the two economists expect global income inequality to continue to fall.