Economic Resources
Wealth / Billionaires
NOTE: On April 7, 2022 The New York Times Magazine published several articles about billionaires, which are posted below. “Their numbers are out of control — and — the rest of us are subject to their whims.” Willy Staley.
Articles/Essays/Op-eds
Thomas Piketty Thinks America Is Primed for Wealth Redistribution (behind paywall), David Marchese.
In 2013, the French economist Thomas Piketty, in his best seller “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” a book eagerly received in the wake of the 2008 economic collapse, put forth the notion that returns on capital historically outstrip economic growth (his famous r>g formula). The upshot? The rich get richer, while the rest of us stay stuck in the mud. Now, nearly a decade later, Piketty is set to publish “A Brief History of Equality,” in which he argues that we’re on a trajectory of greater, not less, equality and lays out his prescriptions for remedying our current corrosive wealth disparities. (In short: Tax the rich.) If the line from one book to the other looks slightly askew given the state of the world, then, Piketty suggests, you’re looking from the wrong vantage point. “I am relatively optimistic,” says Piketty, who is 50, “about the fact that there is a long-run movement toward more equality, which goes beyond the little details of what happens within a specific decade.”
How Many Billionaires Are There, Anyway? (behind paywall), Willy Staley.
“Since 1987, Forbes magazine has published a ‘Billionaires List’ which started small, but has grown much larger with a staggering 2,668 names in this year’s list (worldwide). Forbes thinks there are 735 of them in America. Another count finds 927. Whatever the answer, the mystery is revealing — and the number is growing rapidly.”
Nine Ways to Imagine Jeff Bezos’ Wealth, (behind paywall), Mona Chalabi.
“A fortune of $172 billion is almost impossible to fathom. The artist Mona Chalabi came up with some creative comparisons.”
Rags-to-Riches Stories Are Actually Kind of Disturbing, (behind paywall), Lydia Kiesling.
“Americans retain their faith in the American dream even as our prospects of upward mobility dim. From Horatio Alger and E.L. James to T. Boone Pickens and Charles Koch, books by and about the ultrawealthy reveal some of our darkest American fantasies.”
The Psychic Contortions of the Black Mogul-Entertainer (behind paywall), Blair McClendon.
There are 8 Black American Billionaires according to the Forbes list. Black billionaires are rare, and a disproportionate number of them are performers. What does that much wealth do to your art?
With ‘Stealth Politics’ Billionaires Make Sure Their Money Talks (behind paywall), Jaime Lowe.
What do they actually want? The main reason Billionaires practice stealth politics is that taken collectively, their political preferences do not align with what a majority of Americans want.
All Wealth is Collective by Nature (behind paywall), Thomas Piketty
The lesson from the big picture of history is that political mobilization keeps moving in the direction of equality. At some point, a wealth tax will be put into place.
How the ‘Homeless Billionaire’ Became a Philosopher King (behind paywall), Michael Steinberger.
Money can buy influence over nearly anything in the world — including in the world of ideas. Nicolas wants to ‘empower ideas’ with an emphasis on “courageous or creative thinking”.