Sign in

David Lay Williams

@laywilliams.bsky.social
8.1K followers 889 following 1.7K posts

Political theorist at DePaul and author of The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx (Princeton, 2024). Essays in NY Times, Washington Post, Time, Bloomberg, etc. Jazz Guitar, New York Mets.

PostsRepliesMedia
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Happy to have gotten a clean copy of Kant’s Lectures on Ethics, but somewhat sad that the University of Pittsburgh is dumping classics from their department library!
051
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Few things make me happier than seeing students in office hours share their thoroughly-marked-up texts.
030
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
File under: 1) even a broken clock is right twice a day, and 2) the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.
060
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In the very near future, universities will be measured by the degree to which they frankly acknowledge and address the damage to learning that AI inflicts on every student. In the meantime, administrators race to prostrate themselves before SV for crumbs. It's gross. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/u...
051
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Year 27 —here we go!
060
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Announcement for Chicago people: Tickets are now available for the @chicagojazzdads.com album release party at Local Note Jazz Club in Evanston on October 22. Tickets going fast, so do get yours soon!
local-note-jazz.turntabletickets.com
Chicago Jazz Dads - ALBUM RELEASE - Thu, Oct 22 - Local Note Jazz
Gordon Wright - vocals David Williams - guitar Leo Kawczinski - tenor sax Eric Perney - bass Jonathan Singer - drums https://www.chicagojazzdads.com/ The Chicago Jazz Dads were working musicians…
020
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Sharing this new Foreign Policy essay from @arturochang.bsky.social, featuring arguments from his new @princetonupress.bsky.social book, A New World of Revolutions.
1143
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I get several of these every week.
020
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Kristen Collins @kristenrosec.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Pumped to share this latest Virtual Sentiments episode with @lkatfield.bsky.social perfectly timed for Independence Day weekend (and her Best Book Award win from APSA’s American Political Thought section!) Available wherever you prefer to listen to podcasts! open.substack.com/pub/kristenc...
open.substack.com
Virtual Sentiments Podcast: Laura Field on the Making of the MAGA New Right
A perfect pairing for your Independence Day weekend road trips
253
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Happy Canada Day to all who celebrate!
070
Reposted by David Lay Williams
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Does anyone have access to this book review? muse.jhu.edu/pub/420/arti...
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE -- Verification required!
101
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Gregory Claeys @gclaeyshistory.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Tomorrow is the official publication day for Thomas Paine: Collected Writings, in 6 volumes, from Princeton University Press. Just in time for the 250th...
18620
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Great news for trillionaires concerned about tyrannical limits on their free speech, I guess?
nytimes.com
Supreme Court Lifts Spending Limits on Political Parties and Candidates
010
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Does anyone have access to this book review? muse.jhu.edu/pub/420/arti...
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE -- Verification required!
101
Reposted by David Lay Williams
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility @ucstonecenter.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
What would Plato make of a trillionaire? New @nytopinion.nytimes.com op-ed by Stone Center affiliate @laywilliams.bsky.social explores trillion-dollar fortunes through Plato’s ideas and modern inequality metrics, asking how we make sense of wealth at this scale. Read the article below👇
042
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
@laywilliams.bsky.social, author of The Greatest of All Plagues, talks Elon Musk, Plato's Laws, and modern economic inequality in his guest essay for @nytimes.com. Read the full piece here:
nytimes.com
Elon Musk Confirms AncientConcerns About the Superrich
Ever since Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, people have been trying to grasp the scale of his incomprehensible fortune.
053
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
New essay on meritocracy, part of an outstanding collection of essays on meritocracy, edited by @durlauf.bsky.social and James Robinson in the The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science based on conference at @ucstonecenter.bsky.social. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
033
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This is why you don't elect billionaires to be president, I submit.
140
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts
196133306755
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Extremely pleased the @nytimes.com saw fit to print my little essay contextualizing Musk's trillionaire status with the well-considered advice of Plato, capping wealth at four times that of the poorest citizen.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Elon Musk Confirms Ancient Concerns About the Superrich
1172
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Delighted to share my guest essay from this morning's @nytimes.com opinion section. And kudos to the Times for their excellent artwork!
5276
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Here's what I have to say about Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Is it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why | Ingrid Robeyns
Just as the ‘poverty line’ determines what’s required for basic living, we need a ‘wealth line’ to show when extreme wealth becomes harmful, says economist and philosopher Ingrid Robeyns
23722
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Excellent piece from @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social on recent developments in inequality.
theguardian.com
Is it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why | Ingrid Robeyns
Just as the ‘poverty line’ determines what’s required for basic living, we need a ‘wealth line’ to show when extreme wealth becomes harmful, says economist and philosopher Ingrid Robeyns
030
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Excellent piece from @kaliholloway.bsky.social on the experience of American inequality today.
washingtonpost.com
Americans are reaching a financial breaking point
The majority of Americans are actively stressed about money. The rich have never been richer. No wonder we’re so mad.
062
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Essays like this are why I began subscribing to the New Yorker decades ago. And while Habermas may have failed in his quest to save reason from darker forces, it was a worthy and necessary fight.
newyorker.com
Jürgen Habermas Defended Reason in a Darkening Age
The great German philosopher, who died in March, understood how much depended on a principled public sphere.
171
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Be sure to check out @gorenlj.bsky.social's new book interview with @unlawfulentries.bsky.social!
062
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Very good @newyorker.com piece by Jay Caspian Kang, mostly a string of reflections from professors on the effects of AI on higher learning. While some hit optimistic notes, most of this is very grim. We aren't addressing any of this seriously, for what it's worth. www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...
251
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Nice (and rare!) tenure-track job at the University of Wisconsin--Madison for theorists specializing in American Political Thought. One of my favorite towns!
jobs.wisc.edu
Assistant Professor of Political Science - Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...
121
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Excellent new piece on inequality from @kaliholloway.bsky.social in @thenation.com. (You’ll find me cited a few times.)
thenation.com
Americans Are Reaching a Financial Breaking Point
The majority of Americans are actively stressed about money. The rich have never been richer. No wonder we’re so mad.
031
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Just for the record, Plato thought wise lawgivers would prohibit the richest citizens from acquiring more than four times the amount of property held by the poorest ones.
052
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
New (and thoughtful!) review of The Greatest of All Plagues by James Harris (St. Andrews) in the Journal of Modern History.
journals.uchicago.edu
The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx. By David Lay Williams. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2024. Pp. xviii+404. $35.00 (cloth o...
052
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
When I published my book less than two years ago, naturally, I cited Musk's wealth -- then at $200 billion -- as an astonishing fact. Today it has exceeded $1 trillion. Two years.
063
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
If SBF's petition for a presidential pardon is granted, this would really neatly wrap up a saga about how deeply corrupting inequality is. Mike McLendon and I wrote about this a while back. We may be compelled to write more soon.
time.com
Rousseau Predicted a Problem With Sam Bankman-Fried’s Plan
The philosopher explained, almost 300 years ago, why something like effective altruism was fatally flawed.
061
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
What's so interesting to me in recent trips abroad is how young Europeans still gather in cafés to socialize without any obvious presence of phones or related technologies. Agreed that Americans appear especially vulnerable to tech in a way that infects others less so.
110
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
It was a great honor to do this interview with @guidoalfani.bsky.social, one of the great humanist scholars of inequality, while in Milan this spring. Guido has done terrific interviews with other inequality scholars, including @ebharrington.bsky.social and @brankomilan.bsky.social.
022
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Nomi Claire Lazar @nomiclairelazar.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Last chance to get “Out Of Joint: Power, Crisis, & the Rhetoric of Time” for a 1/2 price steal! Filled with fun! Juicy! Densely packed with idea-stuff and crazy stories! You will be all “ohhh, that makes so much sense!” Took 8 years to write, but at 1/2 price, costs only 4 minutes to order! (What?)
0146
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Capitalism for his good friends, but not such much for these folks. (Also, can we impose an income cap on U.S. presidents?)
nytimes.com
President Trump sides with MLB owners on issue of hard salary cap
010
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Lori Emerson @loriemerson.net · 05/06/2026
"The funniest possible outcome of the AI mandate era is about to be HR departments discovering that 'sincerely held religious belief' under Title VII has a much lower bar than they assumed, and Pope Leo handed every Catholic employee a written excuse" www.businessinsider.com/worker-got-r...
businessinsider.com
She won an exemption from using AI at her tech job. The Pope's remarks could fuel similar appeals.
Legal experts say employers must take AI-related religious objections seriously, as a 2023 ruling raised the bar for denying such accommodations.
5847241616
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Jeff Bezos is pretty sure that higher taxes on the rich won't help address inequality. The real problem resides in the poor's lack of skills. So it's really their fault.
cnbc.com
Jeff Bezos on wealth inequality: The only thing that will solve the problem is skill
Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin founder and Amazon executive chair, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the wealth disparity in America, addressing the affordability gap, U.S. tax code, New York's pied-à-terre tax ...
3102
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
See in the wild (at Squeezebox Books & Records in Evanston).
041
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
The Greatest of All Plagues recovers a forgotten past for some of the most timeless books in the Western canon, revealing how economic inequality has been a paramount problem throughout the history of political thought. Now in #paperback! Read a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx by David Lay Williams. How the great political thinkers have persistently warned against the dangers of economic inequality.
1135
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Connor Ewing @cmewing.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
🎉 Very happy to see Beyond Checks and Balances available on the @pennpress.bsky.social website! Even better: they're currently running a 40% sale with code PENN-SUMMER26. www.pennpress.org/978151282958...
33411
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
So much like the cigarette companies of past decades. This is capitalism as its absolute worst.
nytimes.com
‘Teachers Are Going to Hate It’: How Social Media Apps Hooked Teens at School
011
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
@ingridrobeyns.bsky.social doing some incredible reporting from the World Inequality Conference in Paris this morning.
001
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Next panel, The future of Billionaire Taxation, with Sarah Perret (OECD, Center of Tax Policy and Administration), Emmanuel Saez, and @gabrielzucman.bsky.social. Chair: Emma Agyemang
Emma Agyemang, Gabriel Zucman, Emmanuel Saez and Sarah Perret seated at the 2026 World Inequality Conference.
4299
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Next plenary session at #WIC2026, on 'Utopia and Dystopia in the 21st Century", with Kim Stanley Robinson and Thomas Piketty.
Kim Stanley Robinson speaking at the 2026 World Inequality Conference
23112
Reposted by David Lay Williams
Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
#WIC2026 Second panel, "How much do we need to degrwoth to save the planet" with @jasonhickel.bsky.social, @nicholasstern.bsky.social, and Tejal Tanitkar.
184