Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Geloso on Williamson on Inequality

The first is my favorite: Unequal Gains. Its the price-theory based explanation of American inequality (and its measurement) from the colonial era to today. That book is simply superior in every way to what people tend to like more at the time it came out. The second is really good and its also about inequality but between nations. Its basically how the West grew rich in the 1850s-1950s while the rest grew rich too but more slowly. Its a history of how terms of trade affect institutions, and development paths through a variety of mechanisms. Its basically Jeff's book to say that Marxists theories of "exploitation" and "imperialism" are basically rubbish junks that use some true facts here and there to weave an elaborate theory. An elaborate theory that basic economic (i.e., relative prices, terms of trade, institutions) theory simply beats like a tank over a piece of toast and without any normative priors. Its just a great work. The third is the underrated work of his. Its a history of how Britain adjusted to industrialization and rapid city growth. It wasnt well received but, with hindsight and decades later, it has actually held up really well. Its a bit like the movie Event Horizon. It initially got thrashed but as time passed, it became appreciated. I was re-reading it for my EC365 class at GMU and its just fun and smart. The fourth one is the fun one. Its the book that Jeff wrote soon after getting to Harvard I think. And in it, you see all the themes he is going to harp on for many years. Its basically the "distilled" Jeff that gives the great overview (at an early formative stage) of his views on inequality throughout history. Its just so much better than 99.99% of what is being commonly cited. Jeff was just great about thinking about inequality and how it emerged. And in this, you see that its coming from a pretty centrist guy. He just wanted good economics and you see it there. Its a fun read.
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