Despite that, inequality was growing, both on the national and international levels.
As economies across eastern Europe were restructured so inequalities and social divisions grew.
With the political temperature rising, a stream of new analysis is revealing how sharply inequality has been growing.
But it now seems likely that while inequality has grown within particular nations, it is shrinking among individuals worldwide.
This is why inequality has grown so enormously.
Mass unemployment, social inequalities, instability and insecurity have grown over the last 20 years.
There is a risk that the inequalities we are wrestling with will grow deeper.
We are now beginning to see the effects of unemployment and of deficits, so there is a risk that such inequalities will grow worse.
In recent years, all the statistics point to the fact that inequalities are growing.
Others are noticing that, as the country's wealth increases, its inequalities grow more stark and unsettling.