This week, the American economy won a little burst of applause. The World Economic Forum issued its latest report on which countries are considered to be creating “sustained prosperity” (that is, growth). America jumped to third place in the league table, behind Singapore and smug little Switzerland. This marks a rebound from the period after the crisis, when the US fell to seventh place.

This is pretty gratifying, at least for Washington. What is really interesting this about this year’s WEF report, however, is not the public ranking of nations but a furtive debate bubbling about income inequality in America and elsewhere.

Until recently, the WEF did not spend much time worrying about this issue. But at this year’s annual meeting in Davos, the think-tank revealed that its elite members, such as chief executives of multinational companies, now consider inequality the dominant risk facing the world – the first time it has ever featured in the list.