… is from page 165 of the late, great Wesleyan University economic historian Stanley Lebergott’s insightful 1975 book, Wealth and Want:
There exist various lists of the very rich at different points in American history. They share a common characteristic: a substantial portion of the names on any list would not have been on a similar list a generation before, and often a mere decade before.
DBx: Pictured here is the richest American in 1982 – the first year that Forbes made its list of the 400 richest Americans. Do you recognize this tycoon?
I identify him beneath the fold.
He’s Daniel Keith Ludwig. Ever hear of him?
Most Americans today, I’m sure, have not heard of Mr. Ludwig (1897-1992) – a fact not irrelevant to the anxiety that so many people today suffer over the alleged propensity of capitalism to enrich only the already rich.
