Political theorist at DePaul and author of The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx (Princeton, 2024). Essays in NY Times, Washington Post, Time, Bloomberg, etc. Jazz Guitar, New York Mets.
David Lay Williams
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Nice (and rare!) tenure-track job at the University of Wisconsin--Madison for theorists specializing in American Political Thought. One of my favorite towns!
New (and thoughtful!) review of The Greatest of All Plagues by James Harris (St. Andrews) in the Journal of Modern History.
When I published my book less than two years ago, naturally, I cited Musk's wealth -- then at $200 billion -- as an astonishing fact. Today it has exceeded $1 trillion. Two years.
Excellent new piece on inequality from @kaliholloway.bsky.social in @thenation.com. (You’ll find me cited a few times.)
Just for the record, Plato thought wise lawgivers would prohibit the richest citizens from acquiring more than four times the amount of property held by the poorest ones.
If SBF's petition for a presidential pardon is granted, this would really neatly wrap up a saga about how deeply corrupting inequality is. Mike McLendon and I wrote about this a while back. We may be compelled to write more soon.
What's so interesting to me in recent trips abroad is how young Europeans still gather in cafés to socialize without any obvious presence of phones or related technologies. Agreed that Americans appear especially vulnerable to tech in a way that infects others less so.
Capitalism for his good friends, but not such much for these folks. (Also, can we impose an income cap on U.S. presidents?)
It was a great honor to do this interview with @guidoalfani.bsky.social, one of the great humanist scholars of inequality, while in Milan this spring. Guido has done terrific interviews with other inequality scholars, including @ebharrington.bsky.social and @brankomilan.bsky.social.
Last chance to get “Out Of Joint: Power, Crisis, & the Rhetoric of Time” for a 1/2 price steal! Filled with fun! Juicy! Densely packed with idea-stuff and crazy stories! You will be all “ohhh, that makes so much sense!” Took 8 years to write, but at 1/2 price, costs only 4 minutes to order! (What?)
Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...
Breaking News: Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX shares soared above $150 on its first day of trading.
Nomi Claire Lazar
When I published my book less than two years ago, naturally, I cited Musk's wealth -- then at $200 billion -- as an astonishing fact. Today it has exceeded $1 trillion. Two years.
so an interesting thing here is that the *very sharp* decline in recent years - which virtually every educator I know has remarked upon - seems to be *largely* a U.S. pattern rather than a European one. That to me suggests that we can't just blame the phones.
🎙️ New episode of Dondena Decode!
How are economic inequality and political instability connected?
In this episode @guidoalfani.bsky.social (Bocconi University) interviews @laywilliams.bsky.social (DePaul University)!
🎧 Listen now👇
open.spotify.com/episode/50Bx...
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto billionaire who orchestrated one of the largest financial frauds in history, officially asked President Donald Trump for a pardon, according to the Justice Department’s website. https://cnn.it/4xlBMnS
With SpaceX shares soaring on their first day of trading, the world’s richest person crossed another milestone — one with 13 digits.
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