Against the long sweep of economic history, the current moment is special. Living standards advanced so rapidly and across so many countries over the last decade that it is difficult to think of parallels—even the deepest recession since the Great Depression did not halt progress.

In Juggernaut, Uri Dadush and William Shaw explore the rise of developing countries and how they will reshape the economic landscape. Dadush and Shaw project that the global economy will more than triple over the next forty years and the advance of a large group of developing countries—home to most of the world's population but seen as supplicants rather than trendsetters less than a generation ago—will drive this improvement. The authors systematically examine the effects of this seismic shift on the main avenues of globalization—trade, finance, migration, and the global commons—and identify the policy options available to leaders in managing the transformation.

In the years to come, the rise of emerging economies will likely enhance prosperity but also create great tensions that could slow the process or even stop it in its tracks. Juggernaut calls for leadership by the largest countries in managing these tensions, and underscores the need to cultivate a “global conscience.”