David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Happy 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 · 18/09/2026Few things make me happier than seeing students in office hours share their thoroughly-marked-up texts. 030
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 17/09/2026File 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 · 15/09/2026In 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 · 03/09/2026Announcement 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.comChicago Jazz Dads - ALBUM RELEASE - Thu, Oct 22 - Local Note JazzGordon 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 · 05/08/2026Sharing this new Foreign Policy essay from @arturochang.bsky.social, featuring arguments from his new @princetonupress.bsky.social book, A New World of Revolutions. 1143
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsKristen Collins @kristenrosec.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Pumped 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.comVirtual Sentiments Podcast: Laura Field on the Making of the MAGA New RightA perfect pairing for your Independence Day weekend road trips 253
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsDavid Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Does anyone have access to this book review? muse.jhu.edu/pub/420/arti...muse.jhu.eduProject MUSE -- Verification required! 101
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsGregory Claeys @gclaeyshistory.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Tomorrow 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 · 30/06/2026Great news for trillionaires concerned about tyrannical limits on their free speech, I guess?nytimes.comSupreme Court Lifts Spending Limits on Political Parties and Candidates 010
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Does anyone have access to this book review? muse.jhu.edu/pub/420/arti...muse.jhu.eduProject MUSE -- Verification required! 101
Reposted by David Lay Williams UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility @ucstonecenter.bsky.social · 25/06/2026What 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 WilliamsPrinceton 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.comElon Musk Confirms AncientConcerns About the SuperrichEver 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 · 25/06/2026New 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 · 25/06/2026This is why you don't elect billionaires to be president, I submit. 140
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsLauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Musk 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 · 22/06/2026Extremely 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.comOpinion | Elon Musk Confirms Ancient Concerns About the Superrich 1172
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Delighted 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 WilliamsIngrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Here's what I have to say about Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comIs it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why | Ingrid RobeynsJust 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 · 19/06/2026Excellent piece from @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social on recent developments in inequality.theguardian.comIs it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why | Ingrid RobeynsJust 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 · 19/06/2026Excellent piece from @kaliholloway.bsky.social on the experience of American inequality today.washingtonpost.comAmericans are reaching a financial breaking pointThe 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 · 18/06/2026Essays 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.comJürgen Habermas Defended Reason in a Darkening AgeThe great German philosopher, who died in March, understood how much depended on a principled public sphere. 171
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Be sure to check out @gorenlj.bsky.social's new book interview with @unlawfulentries.bsky.social! 062
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Very 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 · 13/06/2026Nice (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.eduAssistant Professor of Political Science - Madison, Wisconsin, United StatesCurrent 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 · 12/06/2026Excellent new piece on inequality from @kaliholloway.bsky.social in @thenation.com. (You’ll find me cited a few times.)thenation.comAmericans Are Reaching a Financial Breaking PointThe 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 · 12/06/2026Just 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 · 12/06/2026New (and thoughtful!) review of The Greatest of All Plagues by James Harris (St. Andrews) in the Journal of Modern History.journals.uchicago.eduThe 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 · 12/06/2026When 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 · 10/06/2026If 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.comRousseau Predicted a Problem With Sam Bankman-Fried’s PlanThe philosopher explained, almost 300 years ago, why something like effective altruism was fatally flawed. 061
David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 08/06/2026What'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 · 08/06/2026It 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 WilliamsNomi Claire Lazar @nomiclairelazar.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Last 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 · 06/06/2026Capitalism for his good friends, but not such much for these folks. (Also, can we impose an income cap on U.S. presidents?)nytimes.comPresident Trump sides with MLB owners on issue of hard salary cap 010
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsLori 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.comShe 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 · 05/06/2026Jeff 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.comJeff Bezos on wealth inequality: The only thing that will solve the problem is skillJeff 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 · 05/06/2026See in the wild (at Squeezebox Books & Records in Evanston). 041
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsPrinceton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 09/05/2026The 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... 1135
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsConnor 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 · 04/06/2026So 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 WilliamsIngrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Next 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 4299
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsIngrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Next plenary session at #WIC2026, on 'Utopia and Dystopia in the 21st Century", with Kim Stanley Robinson and Thomas Piketty. 23112
Reposted by David Lay WilliamsIngrid 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