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The big challenge of this new decade will be coping with the emergence of a global plutocracy "“ the hyper-educated, internationally minded meritocrats who have been the chief beneficiaries of globalisation and the technological revolution.

The rise of the plutocracy is an unexpected and still largely unnoticed consequence of the powerful political and economic changes shaping our young century. These revolutions "“ the collapse of communism, the spread of economic globalisation and the impact of the internet and mass computing "“ were, after all, about breaking barriers. The Berlin Wall fell; trade restrictions were eased; technology made information and communication free, or nearly...