Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth

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A world-leading expert in inequality makes the case for a hard limit on personal wealth We all notice when the poor get poorer- when there are more rough sleepers and food bank queues start to grow. But if the rich become richer, there is nothing much to see in public and, for most of us, daily life doesn't change. Or at least, not immediately. In this game-changing intervention, leading philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns exposes the true extent of our wealth problem, which has spent the past fifty years silently spiralling out of control. In moral, political, economic, social, environmental and psychological terms, she shows, extreme wealth is not only unjustifiable but harmful to us all - the rich included. In place of our current system, Robeyns offers a breathtakingly clear alternative- limitarianism. The answer to so many of the problems posed by neoliberal capitalism - and the opportunity for a vastly better world - lies in placing a hard limit on the wealth that any one person can accumulate. Because nobody deserves to be a millionaire. Not even you.

Reviews

The best case I've read for putting an upper limit on the accumulation of wealth. Even the super-rich might be glad if there was a finishing line! -- Richard Wilkinson
You might find yourself, as I did, underlining a sentence or three on every page, and adding exclamation points in the margin -- Tim Adams * Observer *
Valuable, intriguing, provocative ... Robeyns poses a question that very rarely gets asked in mainstream politics ... How much is too much * Guardian *
Shes done the maths. We need Limitarianism. Urgently * Irish Examiner *
Provocative ... begs an interesting debate about society's future * The Times *
A landmark ... gripping, riveting, vivid ... We need to embrace, as Robeyns so compellingly argues, limits on income and wealth. * Inequality.org *
Powerful a must-read -- Thomas Piketty
Effortlessly navigating between ethics, political theory, economics and public policy, Ingrid Robeyns nuanced and persuasive defence of limitarianism is also a much-needed manifesto for reimagining political institutions -- Lea Ypi
Is it possible to meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet Definitely not in a world dominated by extreme wealth, as Ingrid Robeyns powerfully argues. This landmark book combines meticulous logic with compelling personal stories to draw everyone - from the super-rich to the super-riled - into one of the most critical public debates of our times. Read it. -- Kate Raworth
A compelling case for limiting extreme wealth, along economic, political and moral lines ... This argument has never been more important, and this book is a persuasive call to action -- Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
An urgent, thought provoking treatise that is both a compelling critique of limitless inequality and an imaginative account of a world without the superrich -- Peter Geoghegan
Ingrid Robeyns has written an essential book from a radical point of view. It is high time someone asked the question, "Is there such a thing as having too much money" Along with its corollary question, 'So what are we going to do about it' Robeyns tackles both with deep knowledge, experience and empathy -- Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist, and activist
Many people accept that there is a threshold that no one should fall below. But few have thought that there is a threshold that no one should be free to soar above. In this wonderful book, Ingrid Robeyns presents a novel and nuanced set of arguments for just such an upper threshold. This is a model of how to bring rigorous analysis to bear on practical issues, and to do so in an engaging, humane and accessible way -- Debra Satz
Robeyns proves that in a true democracy there are no rights without duties no wealth without limits. Limitarianism offers a way to re-democratise wealth and thus re-socialise the richest 1%. -- Marlene Engelhorn, co-founder of taxmenow
Gripping ... we need to embrace a limitarian ethos and free our world once and for all from the fabulously rich. -- Sam Pizzigati * Counterpunch *
There is a limit beyond which additional wealth cant do much to enhance its owners life or happiness. But our economic system generates fortunes far beyond any such limit. Ingrid Robeyns makes a convincing case that an upper limit on wealth would be good for society as a whole and even for the wealthy themselves -- John Quiggin
Robeyns argument that top heavy wealth is sinking living standards for the many, spreading economic fear that authoritarians exploit is sound and her thoughtful ideas for reining in extreme wealth are provocative -- David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winner
Limiting extreme wealth is an idea whose time has surely come and Ingrid Robeyns makes a powerful case for why this should be a priority for public and political debate. Limitarianism builds on what the epidemiology shows so clearly - inequality damages all of us and it needs to be tackled with the greatest urgency -- Kate Pickett
A withering critique of the ethical, moral, and fiscal harms of unlimited wealth concentration . . . [This] caustic but balanced attack offers an equitable economic compromise * Kirkus Reviews *
Perhaps the most blasphemous idea in contemporary discourse -- George Monbiot
One of the most talked-about books to the moment Limitarianism floats the heretical idea that fixing society isnt just about saving the poorest from destitution, but about putting a cap on how much the richest are able to own * Spectator *
Timely, disquieting, compelling Limitarianism questions the idea that individual wealth is ever individual * Atlantic *
A provocative consideration of extreme wealth accumulation * New Yorker *
Original A fresh take a thought-provoking read for all those interested in inequality -- Lucas Chancel * Nature *
The current Buddha of the cap-the-rich movement is Ingrid Robeyns, a professor of ethics at Utrecht University and the author, in January, of Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth. Its a bracing, scolding read -- Ian Brown * Globe and Mail *
[A] revolutionary volume ... Limitarianism is a thoughtful blueprint for the world so many of us want to live inone where capitalism is curbed and greed is limited -- Adrienne Westenfeld * Esquire's 10 best nonfiction books of 2024 *

Author Bio

Ingrid Robeyns holds master's degrees in economics and philosophy, and obtained her PhD at Cambridge University under the supervision of Amartya Sen. She currently holds the Chair in Ethics of Institutions at Utrecht University. She previously served as the director of the Ethics Institute at Utrecht University, and as the first director of the Dutch Research School for Philosophy. Her academic work has been supported by several grants from the Dutch Research Council, as well as by a 2 million ERC Consolidator Grant. In 2018, she was elected as a member of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts. In September 2021, she was awarded an Emma Goldman Award for her work on inequality studies and feminism by the FLAX Foundation in Vienna. Limitarianism is her first trade book.