CASE Special Events
CASE, the Department of Government, and the Programme on Cohesive Capitalism
Cohesive Capitalism Event
Limitarianism: the case against extreme wealth
Professor Ingrid Robeyns (Utrecht University), Martin Sandbu (Financial Times), Professor Lea Ypi (London School of Economics)
Wednesday 31 January 2024 18:30 - 20:00
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Unless otherwise specified, in-person seminars are open to the public. Please ensure you have informed the event contact as early as possible.
Those unable to join the seminars in-person are welcome to participate via zoom if the event is hybrid.
About this event
It’s often said that there shouldn’t be any billionaires. But this is a mistake. What we need is a world without decamillionaires – people having more than ten million pounds. That is what the philosopher Ingrid Robeyns from the University of Utrecht argues in her new book 'Limitarianism. The Case Against Extreme Wealth'.
Why would a world without anyone being superrich be better? Because extreme wealth undermines democracy; is incompatible with climate justice; and the money could be used much better elsewhere. Most fundamentally, no-one deserves to have so much money. But do these reasons stand up to scrutiny? Would preventing the accumulation of extreme wealth kill innovation, undermine our freedoms and opportunities to live the lives we lead, and in the end also harm the poor? Is limitarianism viable? Would it require us to abolish capitalism, and if so, what could replace it? And what, if anything, would it require from the overwhelming majority who do not have sizeable wealth?
This event will put these ideas to the test in a lively debate with the author of Limitarianism in conversation with LSE's Lea Ypi and Martin Sandbu of the Financial Times. CASE's Tania Burchardt will chair the event.
This public event is free and open to all. You can find out more in the LSE Events page.
Related
For further information and papers, when available, please contact:
The CASE team, Email: case@lse.ac.uk.