Books & ideas

Prosopopoeia of the Super-polluters

Giulia Mensitieri — 2023-06-15T07:12:00Z

Ever more numerous, ever more polluting, superyachts are a ‘Capitalo-scene': in a space that is at once vast yet highly circumscribed, they embody the hidden face of contemporary capitalism, in all its planet-killing splendor.

A French Touch in the Sociology of Wealth

Nicolas Duvoux — 2021-03-29T07:00:00Z

A French qualitative strand of research opens new paths to understanding wealth accumulation in the post-Piketty era and renews our vision of elite groups and beyond.

The Well-Kept Secrets of International Finance

Anne Monier — 2019-03-21T06:00:00Z

In her exploration of the world of wealth management, Brooke Harrington dives into the heart of capital globalization. As pillars in the structure of international finance, wealth managers help increase the capital of the wealthy by circumventing government regulations.

A New Look at Development

Arthur Silve — 2018-06-04T07:00:00Z

Over the past two centuries, the world has grown much richer and has seen the health of its population improve dramatically. However, as the Economics Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton reminds us, this historical break must not conceal the great inequalities in access to development between countries.

Everyone's a Collector!

Olivier Godechot — 2018-04-19T07:00:00Z

Luc Boltanski and Arnaud Esquerre invite us to rethink the social mechanisms that produce value and underline the important role collections play in the dynamics of inequalities characterising contemporary societies. By questioning the forms and stakes of commodification and price making in today's society, they show that inserting goods in a collection increases their value.

The Kamasutra and its Audiences

Denis Matringe — 2016-09-15T07:00:00Z

The Kamasutra, written in the third century, is not only an erotic work: it is also a treatise on the art of living for comfortable city-dwellers, whatever their caste or sexuality—and whether they are stallions, bulls, or hares, elephants, mares, or does.

Wealth for All?

Jérôme Gautié — 2016-09-08T07:00:00Z

At a time when the French government has reignited the debate over a universal minimum income, Philippe Askenazy reconsiders the question of wealth redistribution. He maintains that intervention must occur at a much earlier stage, not through taxation or generalized access to property, but by making base incomes equal through a revalorization of work.

Tax Havens: A Guided Tour

Thomas Vendryes — 2012-01-24T09:37:57Z

What sums of money are hidden in tax havens? By whom? And how? Using original methodology and data that has not yet been fully utilized, Gabriel Zucman sheds new light on these questions, in the hope that it might boost the fight against tax havens.

A redrawing of the Red/Blue map in November 2010?

Pauline Peretz — 2010-10-22T07:46:32Z

In the United States, the November midterm elections will most likely be a success for Republicans in Congress. Does it mean that the 2008 electoral map is already outdated? Does it definitely discard the hypothesis that 2008 was the beginning of a long term political realignment in American politics?