A Brief History of Equality

Contributor(s): Professor Thomas Piketty | Will the Covid-19 pandemic fuel social demand for equality and economic justice?
In this lecture, Thomas Piketty offers a refreshing perspective on the historical rise of equality from the 18th century until the early 21st century. The primary determinants of inequality regimes across societies, Piketty argues, are political and ideological, rather than economic or technological. If we remember lessons as to how societies handled past inequality crisis, it is possible to pursue the long-run trend toward equality.
Meet our speaker and chair
LSE alumnus Thomas Piketty (@PikettyLeMonde) is Professor at EHESS and the Paris School of Economics. He is the author of numerous research articles and of a dozen books. He has done historical and theoretical work on the interplay between economic development, the distribution of income and wealth, and political conflict. He is also co-director of the World Inequality Lab and the World Inequality Database.