The Greatest of All Plagues

The Greatest of All Plagues

Author	David Lay Williams
Subject	Economic inequality
Publisher	Princeton University Press
Publication date	2024
ISBN	9780691171975

The Greatest of All Plagues is a 2024 book by David Lay Williams, tracking how economic inequality has been treated by great thinkers of the Western canon.

The title is a reference to Plato , who mentioned "the greatest of all plagues" in his Laws (dialogue). Williams wrote the book in part as he believes commentary on economic inequality has long missed the fact that the West's top political thinkers, not just its lowly workers, have been persistent critics of accumulated wealth. At least in the advanced economies, from the late 1940s to mid 1970s, economic growth delivered benefits which were broadly shared across the earnings spectrums, with inequality falling as the poorest sections of society increased their incomes at a faster rate than the richest. But this trend did not hold, with economic inequality rising in recent decades.

Synopsis

The book has an introduction and seven main chapters, each dedicated to one a great thinker and their thoughts on inequality.

In the Introduction, Willams cites Thomas Piketty to state that after reducing for a short period after World War II, economic inequality has been rising for the last five decades. He explains why he considers economic inequality a greater problem even than alleviating poverty, citing for example Confucius who wrote that a wise ruler "worries not about poverty, but about uneven distribution." He notes that the seven thinkers he has singled out are only a small fraction of the many noteable historical figures who were concerned were concerned about economic inequality.

Chapter one focuses on Plato, who Williams considers the first major philosopher of the western tradition. He concedes that Plato is often considered an elitist, but notes this did not prevent him from being deeply concerned about economic inequality. Williams says Plato's over-arching goals were on promoting civil harmony, friendship and fraternal bonds - which he considered were incompatible with too much economic inequality. Williams relates various ideal & practical ideas Plato had for improving economic egalitarianism.

Chapter two focuses on Jesus Christ. Williams sketches some of the background useful for understanding what Jesus had to say on inequality, such as Hebrew laws relating to Sabbatical and to jubilee where debts were to be forgiven.

Chapters three to six respectively cover the views of Thomas Hobbes , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.

Chapter seven considers the work of Karl Marx, who Williams says is widely understood to be the West's greatest critic of inequality.

Reception

The book met with positive reception. Lilly Goren described it as "A Magnum opus." Nick Romeo for the The Washington Post calls the book impressive, noting that the author doesn't just track intellectual history related to economic inequality, he "makes a persuasive case that these thinkers were right to be so troubled." Samuel Moyn for the Nation described the book as "an excellent new survey", noting that a central question it addresses is why anger on economic inequality has became "pivotal not just for small groups like the Levellers but also for millions in modern times—or why Occupy, “Pikettymania,” and Sanders helped revive a consciousness of it" Arab News noted that the book demonstrates that economic inequality "has been a central preoccupation of some of the most eminent political thinkers of the Western intellectual tradition." New Statesman reported that the author describes how "Plato, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx and others saw inequality as a clear and present threat to both personal character and political stability."