Thomas Piketty

The twentieth century promised prosperity and leisure for all. What went wrong?

In his sweeping new history, the economist systematically demolishes the conceit that extreme inequality is our destiny, rather than our choice.

How is it that the era of neoliberalism coincides almost perfectly with the triumphant rise of a discourse of human rights?

Should equality, instead of another political ideal, should be at the center of our politics?

Amid the global threats posed by climate change, energy costs, unemployment and inequality, the need to rethink progress is now an urgent priority.

American Democratic Socialism has deep roots in the very “American” values it is accused of undermining.

This post is part of a symposium on “The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution,” a new book by Joseph Fishkin and William E. Forbath.

Historian Robin Einhorn reflects on Americans’ complicated relationship to taxes, from the colonial period through the Civil War to the tax revolts of the 1980s.

The murderous hysteria over white patrimony is inseparable from the private capture of both economic opportunity and political authority.

The recent ProPublica exposé shows we need to attack the wealth and power of the rich — and that means massively increasing taxes on them.

A conversation with Richard Jean So about combining data and literary analysis to understand how the publishing industry came to be dominated by white writers. 

Mass inequality in the Gilded Age thrived on identity-based partisanship, helping extinguish the fires of class rage. In 2021, we’re headed down the same path.

A political history of the present moment.

How did the “moral economy”—a concept that once encompassed a radical critique of capitalism—become the province of billionaires?

A new study overturns economic orthodoxy and shows that unions reduce inequality.

We must understand America's history of inequality to confront the racial wealth gap.

All top 1 percent income growth after 2000 came from ownership of capital.

A new book argues that the Constitution’s framers believed that vast concentrations of wealth were the enemy of democracy.

The roots of inequality run a lot deeper than is often acknowledged.