Jay Elwes

The deep roots of global inequality

Oded Galor explores the historic implications for societies of geography and the crops suited to particular climate conditions

Rice farmers near Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. Rice farming, needing large-scale and therefore shared irrigation systems, tends to form a collectivist, interdependent culture. [Getty Images]

  • A Brief History of Equality

    Thomas Piketty

    Belknap, pp. 288, £22

  • The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality

    Oded Galor

    Bodley Head, pp. 304, £20

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