Richer and More Equal

A New History of Wealth in the West

Once there were princes and peasants and very few between. The extremes of wealth and poverty are still with us, but that shouldn’t blind us to the fact our societies have been utterly transformed for the better over the past century. As Daniel Waldenstrm makes clear in this authoritative account of wealth accumulation and inequality in the modern west, we are today both significantly richer and more equal.

Using cutting-edge research and new, sometimes surprising, data, Waldenstrm shows that what stands out since the late 1800s is a massive rise in the size of the middle class and its share of society’s total wealth. Unfettered capitalism, it seems, doesnt have to lead to boundless inequality. The key to progress was political and institutional change that enabled citizens to become educated, better paid, and to amass wealth through housing and pension savings. Waldenstrm asks how we can conso