Kenneth Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist, said inequality may create tension in countries such as the U.S. and Spain.

“Corporate profits are strong, the labor share of income has been falling, it is a global problem,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Eric Schatzker in Davos, Switzerland today. “There are going to be political pressures, social tensions, not just African food riots, but in the United States, Spain, other countries.”

“I don’t think this is something that is so easily addressed,” he said. “You can hope that there are longer-term solutions.”