Was honored to comment at MPSA on David Lay Williams' excellent "The Greatest of All Plagues" (Princeton: 2024)
@laywilliams.bsky.social on economic inequality in the history of political thought.

The book covers a vast archive (Plato, Hobbes, Rousseau, Smith, Marx) but stays remarkably cohesive.

Tariffs are not just bad economic policy, but an opportunity for spectacular corruption and consolidation of power in the President, through the endless carve-outs, exemptions, and other dealings that will inevitable fall at his doorstep.

How can ordinary MAGA investors be surprised that a man on the cusp of a $2 billion payday for a rancid social media company with little revenue, and reaping millions more from a corrupt crypto venture, would shrug about a market downturn that hurts ordinary people and their 401ks.

Just got back from the 2025 International Adam Smith Society conference in Lecce, Italy. I loved being at a conference focused on a single thinker; this type of deep immersion is so valuable.

smithsociety.org/welcome-to-t...

Excited to be here on Bluesky