How the great political thinkers have persistently warned against the dangers of economic
inequality Economic inequality is one of the most daunting challenges of our time with
public debate often turning to questions of whether it is an inevitable outcome of economic
systems and what if anything can be done about it. But why exactly should inequality worry
us? The Greatest of All Plagues demonstrates that this underlying question has been a central
preoccupation of some of the most eminent political thinkers of the Western intellectual
tradition. David Lay Williams shares bold new perspectives on the writings and ideas of Plato
Jesus Thomas Hobbes Jean-Jacques Rousseau Adam Smith John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx. He
shows how they describe economic inequality as a source of political instability and a
corrupter of character and soul and how they view unchecked inequality as a threat to their
most cherished values such as justice faith civic harmony peace democracy and freedom.
Williams draws invaluable insights into the societal problems generated by what Plato called
“the greatest of all plagues ” and examines the solutions employed through the centuries. An
eye-opening work of intellectual history 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.
