Many years ago I remember reading somewhere that Plutarch somewhere said
something like: "Nothing is more dangerous to a commonwealth than too
great a disparity in wealth." I asked some eminent Plutarchians to
identify the quotation but they couldn't. I'm reasonably confident that
Plutarch did say this, partly because he is the kind of writer who would
say such a thing.
I'm reminded of this by the current buzz about Piketty's Capital in the
Twenty-first century.If somebody can find the quotation, it would be a
nice contribution to debates about inequality.
Martin Mueller
Professor emeritus of English and Classics
Northwestern University
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