The History of Inequality

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When i read brodel, it strikes me there's something quite conservative about the argument. I think the history of equality or nequality cannot just be an economic history. It as to b our political history. And indeed, this is a big difference with the annal school. They were not confronted to the thesame kind of issue that i was confronting. Just because i write later, tan time, with data covering the more recent period. And soiar apt to develop a different expective and a different kind of interpretation.

When it comes to the enormous reduction of income inequality during the 20th century, Thomas Piketty sees politics everywhere. In his new book, A Brief History of Equality, he argues the rising equality during the 19th and 20th centuries has its roots not in deterministic economic forces but in the movements to end aristocratic and colonial societies starting at the end of the 18th century. Drawing this line forward, Piketty also contends we must rectify past injustices before attempting to create new institutions.

He joined Tyler to discuss just how egalitarian France actually is, the beginning of the end of aristocratic society, where he places himself within French intellectual history, why he’s skeptical of data from before the late 18th century, how public education drives economic development, why Georgism isn’t sufficient to address wealth inequality, the relationship between wealth and cultural capital, his proposal for a minimum inheritance, why he turned down the Legion of Honor, why France should give reparations to Haiti despite the logistical difficulties of doing so, his vision for European federalism, why more immigration won’t be a panacea for inequality, his thoughts on Michel Houellebecq’s Submission, and more.

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Recorded March 8th, 2022 Other ways to connect

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