TheGreatLeveler

Are mass violence and catastrophes the only forces capable of significantly reducing economic inequality? According to Walter Scheidel, based on thousands of years of global history, the answer is yes. Periods of increased equality are often preceded by carnage and disaster, but they are short-lived and disappear with the return of peace and stability. The Great Leveler explores the crucial role that violent shocks have played in reducing inequality throughout human history.

Throughout civilization, economic inequality has been a defining characteristic, lasting for thousands of years. Scheidel argues that only violent events have significantly reduced inequality, which he refers to as the "Four Horsemen" of leveling: mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues. Scheidel examines these processes, from the crises of the earliest civilizations to the world wars and communist revolutions of the twentieth century. However, today, the violence that previously reduced inequality seems to have abated, which raises concerns about the chances of achieving greater equality in the future.

The Great Leveler makes an essential contribution to the ongoing debate about inequality and provides critical new insights into why inequality persists and why it is unlikely to decline anytime soon.

作者简介

WalterScheidelistheDickasonProfessorintheHumanities,professorofclassicsandhistory,andaKennedy-GrossmanFellowinHumanBiologyatStanfordUniversity.Theauthororeditorofsixteenpreviousbooks,hehaspublishedwidelyonpremodernsocialandeconomichistory,demography,andcomparativehistory.HelivesinPaloAlto,California.