Despite growing income inequality, American national mythology tells us we can get rich if we just work hard enough. The problem with this myth is that the empirical evidence does not support it. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. These are permanent changes.
Tag: new gilded age
Gross. What’s more, the new nouveau riche are openly comparing today’s Singapore to the Gilded Age: But Ault, who moved to Singapore three years ago, says he “no longer feels the mag
The coverage of Hugo Chavez’s death has been almost universally terrible. But this piece from Associated Press business reporter Pamela Simpson takes the cake: Chavez invested Venezuela’s
This country is so weird. Sometimes exhilarating and sometimes incredibly depressing, the United States is full of paradoxes. This is a tough week for me. There’s one big thing to celebrate–the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, with stronger protections for marginalized groups and pressure that forced the House Republican Troglodyte Caucus to cave. […]
As a historian of the Gilded Age, the sequester is very exciting to me. With each passing day, a big leap back to the halcyon days of the 1890s seems more likely. Here’s an old rundown I did at
I’m really glad the Times is publishing puff pieces detailing how our plutocrats land on their feet, no matter what horrible things they do. Like the first Gilded Age, failure is rewarded handso
Marc-William Palen provides a response of sorts to my connections between the Gilded Age and today, as well as others who have made the comparison such as Paul Krugman. Palen attempts to draw the comparisons out to foreign policy, but the piece is rather problematic on a number of levels. Palen makes two major points. […]
Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake moves the mainstreaming of overturning the 17th Amendment another step forward. Yes, an increasing number of right-wingers want to repeal the constitutional amendment al
I guess Bryan Caplan isn’t the only member of the plutocracy channeling Gilded Age Social Darwinism. See Mitt Romney speaking about the differences between Israelis and Palestinians today. Notin
Bryan Caplan is a terrible person. Now you might say that I am too mean to the Koch-funded George Mason economist. After all, he might not beat his dog. But that doesn’t really matter here. Because Bryan Caplan is a terrible person. Why is Bryan Caplan such a scourge on the human race? This article […]
I was interviewed today on Flashpoints, talking about the return of the Gilded Age in the early 21st century. At the end, I even got to talk about how I don’t think positive change can come with
Mitt Romney is having a fundraiser in Hamilton, Montana. Not only is this fundraiser hosted by Charles Schwab, but it is at the home of Marcus Daly, one of Montana’s Copper Kings during the Gild