How the rich and the super-rich throughout Western history
accumulated their wealth, behaved (or misbehaved) and helped (or
didn’t help) their communities in times of crisis The rich have
always fascinated, sometimes in problematic ways. Medieval thinkers
feared that the super-rich would act 'as gods among men’; much
more recently Thomas Piketty made wealth central to discussions of
inequality. In this book, Guido Alfani offers a history of the rich
and super-rich in the West, examining who they were, how they
accumulated their wealth and what role they played in society.
Covering the last thousand years, with frequent incursions into
antiquity, and integrating recent research on economic inequality,
Alfani finds—despite the different paths to wealth in different
eras—fundamental continuities in the behaviour of the rich and
public attitudes towards wealth across Western history. His account
offers a novel perspective on current debates about wealth and
income disparity. Alfani argues that the position of the rich and
super-rich in Western society has always been intrinsically
fragile; their very presence has inspired social unease. In the
Middle Ages, an excessive accumulation of wealth was considered
sinful; the rich were expected not to appear to be wealthy.
Eventually, the rich were deemed useful when they used their wealth
to help their communities in times of crisis. Yet in the
twenty-first century, Alfani points out, the rich and the
super-rich—their wealth largely preserved through the Great
Recession and COVID-19—have been exceptionally reluctant to
contribute to the common good in times of crisis, rejecting even
such stopgap measures as temporary tax increases. History suggests
that this is a troubling development—for the rich, and for
everyone else.
General
Imprint: |
Princeton University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
2024 |
First published: |
2023 |
Authors: |
Guido Alfani
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
432 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-691-21573-0 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-691-21573-1 |
Barcode: |
9780691215730 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!