Have More

In the spirit of suggesting books which might make a decent Christmas gift, I offer up the following suggestion for that person on your list who likes economics, but doesn’t want a technical manuscript.  (For the person on your list who likes economics and wants a technical manuscript, give them a copy of a Shakespeare play and tell them there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their philosophy and that Christmas is a terrible time to ask for technical manuscripts.)

The recommendation:  Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality

Unlike many economics books aimed at a general audience, this one a) has good, solid content and b) isn’t longer than it needs to be to make its point.  It’s overall argument is simply an explanation of the nature of inequality.  It does a really nice job at showing that when we talk about inequality there are really three different things:

1) Inequality within a country (why are some people in a country richer than others in the same country?)

2) Inequality between countries (why are some countries wealthier than others?)

3) Inequality between people of the world (why are poor people in rich countries wealthier than rich people in poor countries?)

It’s that last one that surprises many people.  We have heard a lot about the top 1% lately, so here is the fun question:  What income do you need to be in the top 1% of the world income distribution?  Milanovic calculates it:  you need a little over $34,000 a year.  In other words, lots of Americans are in the top 1%.  Moreover, even those that aren’t are easily in the top 5% of the world income distribution.  The poor in America are fabulously rich compared to the poor in most of the world.

Milanovic has lots of good material on Big Questions like that.  But, the real charm of the book is that he also spends quite a bit of time answering a wide array or ridiculously fun questions:

How rich was Mr Darcy?  (Very, very rich)  How big of a catch was Darcy for Elizabeth?  (Really big; she was nowhere near as wealthy)

Accounting to the price level at the time, who was the richest person ever?  Not Bill Gates.  It was John D Rockefeller.

How much of your income is determined at your birth?  80%

Does the world have a Middle Class?  Not really.

And so on.  Like I said—it’s a quirky and fun book. 

(And, for the MHC folks, he is coming to campus for a conference next March.)

I assigned the book in my class, and one student asked how to move from being a Have to being a Have-More.  Good question.  I think the easiest way is a) Attend a school like Mount Holyoke, b) Spend a lot of time hanging around horses  (not a poor man’s sport) and c) Marry someone you meet at the barn who already is a Have-More.