The wisdom of money

The Wisdom of Money The Wisdom of Money Pascal Bruckner  translated from the french by steven rendall Cambridge, Mas­s a­c hu­s etts London, ­E ngland 2017 Copyright © 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of Amer­i­ca First printing First published as La Sagesse de l’Argent © Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2016 Book design by Dean Bornstein Library of Congress Cataloging-­in-­Publication Data Names: Bruckner, Pascal, author Title: The wisdom of money / Pascal Bruckner ; translated from the French by Steven Rendall Other titles: Sagesse de l’argent En­glish Description: Cambridge, Mas­sa­chu­setts : Harvard University Press, 2017 | “First published as La Sagesse de l’Argent © Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2016.”—­Title page verso | Includes bibliographical references and index Identifiers: LCCN 2016044101 | ISBN 9780674972278 (alk paper) Subjects: LCSH: Money—­Philosophy | Money—­Social aspects | Money—­Moral and ethical aspects Classification: LCC HG220.3 B7813 2017 | DDC 306.3—­dc23 LC rec­ord available at https://­lccn​.­loc​.­gov​/­2016044101 To my Tutsie No one has condemned wisdom to poverty. . . . ​ I ­will scorn the entire domain of fortune, but I ­shall select the better part of it, if a choice be given me Seneca Contents Translator’s Note  ix Introduction: Lenin’s Wishes 1 Part One: The Worshippers and the Despisers 1.  The Dev­il’s Dung 9 2.  On the Eminent Dignity of the Poor? 31 3.  France, or the Taboo on Money 41 4.  Amer­i­ca, or Spiritual Money 60 Part Two: Three Myths about the Golden Calf 5.  Money, the Ruler of the World? 79 6.  Does Opulence Make ­People Unhappy? 108 7.  Has Sordid Calculation Killed Sublime Love? 135 Part Three: Richesse Oblige 8.  Should Bourgeois Values Be Rehabilitated? 165 9.  Getting Rich Is Not a Crime (and Falling into Poverty Is Not a Virtue) 190 10.  The Hand That Takes, the Hand That Gives Back 211 Conclusion: An Acknowledged Schizo­phre­nia 234 Notes 239 Index 265 Translator’s Note Quotations of works that first appeared in En­glish are given, so far as pos­si­ble, in their original form ­Unless other­wise noted, all translations into En­glish of quotations originating in other languages are my own Quotations from the Bible cite the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of Amer­i­ca Used by permission All rights reserved I would like thank Lisa Neal for her careful reading and many suggestions for the improvement of this translation ix Index China, 39, 46, 53, 82, 167, 196, 206, 260n24 See also Maoism chrematistics, 13, 240n8 Christ child, 58 Chris­tian­ity: charity and, 224; debt and, 233; money as whore and, 36; Romanticism and, 82; wealth and, 13 See also Augustine of Hippo and ­others; Catholicism; the collection; Leviticus; Protestantism; salvation (redemption) Christmas, 216–217 Chrysippus, 128 Cicero, 13, 74, 145–146 Citigroup, 257n6 civilization, 75, 96, 186–187, 199 See also culture Claudel, Paul, 44–45 climate change crisis, 92, 101 clocks, 20, 241n34 Cohen, Daniel, 117, 118 coins, 1–2, 58, 59 the collection, 212–215 Columbia, 174 commercialization, 83, 98, 103–104 See also financialization; love and sex, selling of commodification of ­people, 94, 119 common good (public good), 88, 204, 206 Commoy, Pierre, 258n12 communism: capitalism compared, 205; Car­ne­gie and, 219–220; economic science and, 176; envy and, 193; fall of, 40; France and, 54; nostalgia for, 92; or­ga­nized crime and, 174; poverty and wealth and, 37, 191; power of, 102; security and, 206; wealth and, See also Bolsheviks; Marxism and Marx competition, 87 computers, 121–122 Confessions (Rousseau), 43 confidence, Confucianism, 22 Congo, 157 Connally, John, 61 conservatism (the right), 82, 88–89, 131–133, 167, 169 consumerism, 118, 130, 142, 144, 167 consumerism (consumption), 74, 179 consumption, 116 con­ve­nience, 87 Coo­lidge, Calvin, 66 Copyright Act of 1709 (­England), 216 corruption and scandals: Amer­i­ca and, 70; desire to get rich vs., 53; France and, 55–56, 244n14, 245n20; Standard & Poors and, 260n36; Vatican and, 23–24 cosmopolitanism, 63 cost-­benefit analyses, 97 Council of Trent, 21 Counter-­Reformation, 23 La cousine Bette (Balzac), 80–81, 137 Crary, Jonathan, 194–195 credit and debt: addiction to, 113–114; American dollar and, 61; anti-­ Semitism and, 131; Aristotle on, 14–15; charity and, 230; diminished currency and, 137; Greeks and, 94; history and, 232–233; individualism and, 111–115; indulgences and, 20; marriage and, 155; narcissism and, 181; northern vs southern Eu­ro­pean religion and, 29–30; 268 Index overview, 110–111; poverty and, 192; quantification and, 96; real estate loans, 20; regulation and, 188–189; repayment and, 231–236; virtuous, 264n20 See also interest; usury Crédit Lyonnais bank, 56 crime See values (morality) (virtue) (crime) crisis of 2007–2008, 245n16 Crosby, Alfred W., 241n34 culture: Amer­i­ca and, 71; bank notes and, 62; bourgeois values and, 167; France and, 52–56, 59, 71; the market and, 87; meaning of life and, 68; wealth and, 170 See also artistic / literary trades; civilization Dalí, Salvador, 173 Dante, 14, 94, 250n21 death, 33–34, 91, 130, 207–208, 233 See also heirs death instinct, 183 debt See credit and debt De Gaulle, Charles, 45, 49 democracy: capitalism and, 204; charity and, 227–228; civilizing money and, 235; contradiction of, 129–130; gambling and, 161–162; lack of money and, 129–130; ­middle classes and, 193; money and, 86; parvenus and, 201–202; prostitution and, 157 See also equality; France and other democracies; freedom Deng Xiaoping, 53 dental care, 51 Depardieu, Gérard, 47 desire for money: corruption vs., 53; Dante on, 250n21; denunciation of, 196; in itself, 40; overview, 2–3; satiety and, 127–128; well-­being and, 130 desires: anarchy of, 158; capitalism and, 89; conservatism / liberalism and, 88–89; credit and, 110; detachment and, 129–130, 133–134, 144–146; instantaneous satisfaction of, 115; marriage and, 140; narcissism and, 181; 1960s and, 175, 203; poverty and, 53; redirection of, 203; 2008 crisis and, 114–115; wealth and, 130 See also desire for money; love and sex destiny, 112, 160 detachment, 129–130, 133–134 “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” (Fitzgerald), 152 diamond industry, 197 Diamond Jr., Robert, 179 Dickens, Charles, 190 dignity, 12, 31–40, 73, 97, 98, 157–158 discreet servant complex, 73–74 discrimination, 195–196 dispensations, 20 diversity, 45–46 Dodd-­Frank Act (U.S.), 123 Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 109, 114, 160 double-­entry bookkeeping, 98 See also accounting Drahi, Patrick, 245n20 Dray, Julien, 245n22 drug cartels, 104 Duby, Georges, 224 Duchêne, Laurence, 245n16 Duflo, Esther, 261n2 269 Index Dumas fils, Alexander, 73 Dupuy, Jean-­Pierre, 92, 118 Duruy, Victor, 16 earthquakes, 44 Easterlin, Richard, 115 Eastern Eu­rope, 174 economic crises, 87 economists, 118–119, 176–178 See also Zucman, Gabriel and ­others education: American, 70; commercialization and, 83; desire to rise and, 195; France and, 50; free-­ free-of charge, 208; individualism and, 111; paying students for, 82; rule of money and, 90, 91; taxes and, 185 Edward II & III (­England), 94 Egypt, 240n16 Eisenhower, Dwight D., 60 elections, 91, 94 Elias, Norbert, 165 The End of Money (Wolman), 259n20 ­England, 93, 216 English-­language novels, 147 Enlightenment, 80, 101–102 “enough,” 234 “Enrich yourself,” 52–53 entrepreneurial spirit, 104, 107 envy, 45–47, 48, 124, 127, 170, 181, 193 Epicurus, 130 equality, 126, 154–155, 159 See also democracy Esclave de Daech (Oberlé), 251n25 Escobar, Pablo, 174 Eu­rope: banknotes and, 62–63; capitalism and, 190; debt and, 232, 233; euros and, 64; history and, 64; marriage and, 142, 148–149, 150; northern vs southern, 242n45; poverty vs wealth and, 193, 194; sex tourism and, 156; taxes and, 185; wealth and, 72 euros, 64, 74, 247n5 Facebook, 100 FACTA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), 185 Falciani, Henri, 123 fascism, 102 fatalism (predestination) (fate), 25–26, 145, 151, 161, 197, 235 Faust, 68 FBI, 247n35, 247n36 feminism, 157, 255n9 Fénelon, 17 Ferdinand of Spain, 132 Ferguson, Niall, 188 Fermat, Pierre de, 160 Ferry, Luc, 174 “fest of marvelous beasts,” 181 Ficino, Marsilio, 28 finance: creative destruction and, 186; detestation of, 133; health of countries and, 188; Hollande and, 48; Islamic, 240n16; ­labor and, 258n6; morality and, 218; power of, 100 See also banks and bankers; Buffett, Warren; Oracle of Omaha; trader, repentant financialization, 81 See also calculation; commercialization; quantification Finland, 52 Fitzgerald, F Scott, 147–148, 151–153 Fontane, Theodor, 162 270 Index food, 130, 144, 192 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA), 185 fornication, 14–15 fortune (fate) (predestination), 25–26, 145, 151, 161, 197, 235 fortune (riches), 43, 236 See also wealth foundations, 222–223, 227 Fouquet, 105 Fouquet, Nicolas, 126 Fourier, Charles, 70–71, 137, 159, 248n15 France: charity and, 226–227; corruption and, 55–56, 244n14, 245n20; credit and debt and, 113–114; freedom and, 75; informers and, 123; intellectuals and, 11–12; ­labor solidarity and, 258n6; marriage and, 141–142, 180; sex vs money and, 64; stock trader corruption and, 254n22; taboo on money and, 41–59; taxes and, 45, 53, 55, 245n21; unemployment and, 202; wealth and, 69, 70–71, 72; younger generation and, 104 See also Catholicism; Eu­rope; French Revolution; Old Regime; Zola, Émile and other French figures Francis I, 23, 92, 100–101, 196, 239, 241n40 See also Vatican Frank, Robert, 258n7 Franklin, Benjamin, 25, 66, 84–85, 166 Franssu, Jean-­Baptiste, 241n41 freedom: capitalism and, 98; charity and, 230; hard cash and, 108–110, 252n1; from marriage, 150; money and, 73, 74–75, 90; overview, 89–93; self-­engenderment and, 112–113; wisdom of money and, 234 See also ser­v ice “­free money,” 38, 211 free-­of-­charge ­things, 93–94, 208 French novels, 147 See also Balzac, Honor é de and other novelists French Revolution, 52, 59, 80, 124, 125–126, 166, 191 Freud, Sigmund, 64–65, 166, 183 Friedman, Milton, 61, 66 Front de Gauche, 92 Front National, 92 fulfillment, 128 Gabriel, Sigmar, 182 Galileo, 98 gambling, 94–95, 160–162 gangsters, 103–104 Gansbourg, Serge, 184 Gates, Bill, 67, 223, 227 Gates, Frederick T., 220 Gates Foundation, 216 generosity See charity and generosity (philanthropy); patrons Genet, Jean, 145 The German Ideology (Marx), 176 Germany, 30, 58, 82, 95, 119 See also Eu­rope; Merkel, Angela and other Germans; National Socialism Gesell, Silvio, 136–137 Getty, J Paul, 183 Gide, André, 81 gifts, 217218 Giroud, Franỗoise, 65 Giving Pledge, 223 globalization, 199 271 Index God See religions gold, 27–29, 63 Gold (Cendrars), 27–29 The Gold Calf (sculpture), 10 Golden Calf, 9, 17, 131 Goldman Sachs, 120 gold standard, 247n1 good life, 134 See also meaning of life Google, 100, 185 Goux, Jean Joseph, 247n1 grace, 160–162, 233 See also salvation La gratuité, c’est le vol (Malka), 239 ­Great Depression, 203 Greece: ceremonial debauchery and, 22; commodification of ­people and, 94; debt and, 232; duties of wealth and, 202; exporting riches and, 50; money and, 13–14; religion and money and, 18; Tantalus and Midas and, 119, 123; wealth and, 24 See also Plato and other Greeks greed, 27, 32, 103–104, 171–172, 182–183 See also love of money Greek crisis, 245n16 Greenspan, Alan, 201 growth, 194196 Guizot, Franỗois, 5253 Gujartis, 197 Habitat for Humanity, 229 Halimi, Han, 131 Hamid, Mohsin, 199 Hamon, Bint, 50 happiness: aging and, 253n14; bank data and, 253n10; credit / debt and, 110–115; detachment and, 129–134; envy and, 124–127; Fitzgerald on, 151; freedom and, 108–110; satiety and, 127–129, 130; wealth and, 53; well-­being vs., 115–124 See also adversity Hayek, Friedrich, 39, 90 health, 223, 227 Hearst, William Randolph, 179 Hegel, G W F., 73, 98, 175, 202 Heidegger, Martin, 192 heirs, 67–69, 178, 198, 219, 230, 248n13, 258n7, 263n7 Helmsley Leona, 185, 260n35 Henry VIII, 126 hierarchical relationships, 85–86 Hinduism, 22–23 hippies, 172–173 Hirst, Damien, 9–10 history, 59, 63, 64, 82, 93–98, 191, 228–229, 232–233 See also revolutions Holland, 94, 95, 221–222 See also Amsterdam Hollande, Franỗois, 4849, 4950, 5051, 55, 246n27 Holmes, Larry, 66 homeless ­people, 213 Horace, 73 The House of Mirth (Wharton), 179 The House of the Dead (Dostoyevsky), 109 How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (Hamid), 199 Hugo, Victor, 42, 105, 190, 198 Huizinga, Johan, 187 Hulot, Nicolas, 92, 144 humanity, 96–97 ­human types, 36 Hungarian gypsies, 251n35 Huysmans, J K., 18 272 Index idealism, 139 identity, 113 Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions) (Balzac), 82 immigrants and migrations, 46, 101, 131, 197, 214 immortality industry, 91 impôt sur la fortune (ISF), 51, 245n21 Indecent Proposal (film), 153–154 indentured servants, 250n24 India, 22, 29, 46, 82, 196, 206 indifference to money, 49 individualism, 87, 111–115 indulgences, 19–21 Industrial Revolution, 35 in­equality, 169–170, 251n36 See also poverty vs wealth inflation, 58–59 informers, 123 Inquisition, 132 institutions, 87–88, 90, 226 See also the state (governments) interest, 14–15, 21, 34 See also credit and debt invisible hand, 87–88 Iraq, 95–96 ISF (impôt sur la fortune), 51, 245n21 ISIS, 39, 102, 251n25 See also terrorism Islam: capitalism and, 25; charity and, 224; foundations and, 227; profit and, 14; sex and, 65; slavery and, 95–96; usury and, 240n16; wealth and, 22, 240n12, 241n38 See instead terrorism Israel, 131, 133 Italy, 174, 259, 264n20 See also Dante and other Italians; Negri, Toni Jains, 26, 29 James, Henry, 81, 198 Jansenism, 56 Japan, 209 Johnson, Samuel, 160, 171 John the Good (France), 94 Jospin, Lionel, 49–50 Judaism, 14, 15, 224 See also anti-­Semitism; Leviticus Kant, Immanuel, 97, 154, 205 Kardashian, Kim, Kerviel, Jérome, 122–123 Kessell, Joseph, 159 Keynes, John Maynard, 27, 38, 177 Kierkegaard, Søren, 21, 221, 256n24 King Lear, 203 Klein, Naomi, 92 Klossowski, Pierre, 137 Kravinsky, Zell, 221 ­labor and wages: American Protestantism and, 69; artists and, 216; bourgeois values and, 165–166; Calvin on, 25–26; Car­ne­gie and, 219; corrective, 205; cult of work and, 206; dignity of poor and, 34–35; Fitzgerald on, 152; gold and, 27; individualism and, 111; inheritance vs., 230; marriage and, 141–142, 142–143; Marx on, 35–36; meaning of life and, 68; millionaires and, 260n24; Nietz­sche on, 170; Péguy on, 44; poverty vs wealth and, 116, 193–194; relations with capital, 52; sanctification of, 25–26; satiety vs., 127; 2008 crisis and, 114–115; ­women and, 150 See also 273 Index l­abor and wages (continued) hierarchical relationships; poverty vs wealth; prostitution; salaries; slavery; tips (gratuities) La Bruyère, 42, 95 Lafargue, Paul, 105 La Fontaine, 105 La Fressange, Inès de, 245n20 Lamartine, 42, 52 L’ Argent (Zola), 200 La Rochefoucauld, Franỗois de, 166 Last Judgment, 3334 laws, 55, 67 See also the state (governments) the left (liberalism): anti-­Semitism and, 131–133; bourgeois values and, 167; conservatism compared, 88–89, 169; Dray on, 245n22; free-­of-­charge ­things and, 93–94; French taxes and, 47; inequalities and, 169; on power, 196; Romanticism and, 82; on terrorism, 251n36; on traders, 46; universal minimum income and, 117 See also Le Monde diplomatique; Smith, Adam and o­ thers Le Monde diplomatique, 239 Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, 1, 38, 54 Le Pen, Marine, 92 L’Étrange défaite (Bloch), 50 LETS (local exchange trading systems), 137 Leviticus, 232 Lewinsky, Monica, 54 liberalism See the left Libor, 179 light, divine, 28 Lioret, Philippe, 131 Lipp­mann, Walter, 197 lit­er­a­t ure See artistic / literary trades; French novels Liu Yiquian, 173 local exchange trading systems (LETS), 137 Loisel, Mathilde, 231 London, Jack, 190 Londres, Albert, 53 L’Oréal ad, 169 L’Oréal heiress, 215–216 Lost Illusions (Illusions perdues) (Balzac), 82 Louis XIV, 126 love and sex: Amer­i­ca and, 42, 54–55; Balzac on, 137, 156–157, 254n4; calculation and, 135–163; Kierkegaard and, 256n24; money compared, 235–236; 1960s and, 139, 141; satisfaction and, 118; speculation and, 140, 209; “taxi-­girls” and, 257n36; values (morality) and, 90, 94; venal / immoral, 156–159, 162; worthiness and, 90 See also Freud, Sigmund; marriage; prostitution love of money, 66, 69, 177, 179, 183 See also ambition; discreet servant complex; greed; misers and spendthrifts Luther, Martin, 23 Lutheranism, 19, 21, 24, 25, 66 Lyne, Adrian, 153–154 Lysistrata (Aristophanes), 141 Machiavelli, 222 mafias, 103–104, 159, 174, 177, 218, 259n18 Mailorama (website), 211 274 Index Malka, Richard, 239 Mallarmé, Stéphane, 106, 122 Manifeste des enragés (Roux), 43 Mann, Thomas, 187 The Man without Qualities (Musil), 139 Maoism, 39, 56, 95 Marble House, 179–180 Marguerite (film), 74 Marianne (weekly magazine), 245n20 the market See capitalism marriage: the collection and, 212; commercialization and, 98; forced, 94; gambling compared, 160; as prison / escape, 146–150; proposal from investment counselor and, 135–136; salaries and, 255n9; sex and, 154–155; Simmel on, 255n5; three axes of, 139–143; venal love and, 156; ­women’s rights and, 255n10 Marxism and Marx: on anti-­ Semitism, 132; on capitalism, 190; economic science and, 176; on envy, 125; on l­abor, 35–36; on money, 73; religious f­ actors and, 251n36; Romanticism and, 82; on self-­interest, 82; universal minimum income and, 116–117; on war, 102 materialism, 139, 153, 196 material necessity, 234 mathe­matics, 98 Matthew (apostle), 236 Maupassant, Guy de, 137, 198, 231 meaning of life, 68, 171–172, 202–206 See also good life; self-­f ulfillment means and ends media, 126, 223–224, 228 megafirms, 100 Mélenchon, Jean-­Luc, 46–47, 92 Mémoires d’espoir (De Gaulle), 49 men See love and sex mendicants, 34–35 merchants, 10–11 See also speculation merit, 169 Merkel, Angela, 101, 182 Mermoz, Jean, 114 Mexico, 250n24 Midas, 119, 123 ­Middle Ages, 24, 94 ­middle classes, 191, 193, 248n7 ­Middle East, 251n36 migrations and immigrants, 46, 101, 131, 197, 214 Mill, John Stuart, 195 Millennium Development Goals (UN), 261n8 millionaires, 260n24 Milton, John, 186, 193 Miser (Molière), 28 misers and spendthrifts, 182–184 Mittal, Lakshmi, 180 Mitterrand, Franỗois, 45 Modi, Narendra, 197 Modigliani, Amedeo, 173 Moli ốre, 182–183 monasticism, 23, 94, 264n20 See also mendicants monetary atheism, 247n1 money: adaptation by, 99–100; attachment to, 57–59; dematerialization of, 177; end of, 176–178, 259n20; as essence of modernity, 39–40; “­free,” 211; language of, 139; meaning of, 1–5; as meta­phor, 155; 275 Index money (continued) overview, 9–10; renouncing, 59; right relationship to, 110, 184; shortage of, 56; as weapon of mass destruction, 189; wisdom of, 4–5, 40, 85, 129, 232, 234–236 See also bank notes; desire for money; discreet servant complex; France and other countries; happiness; poverty vs wealth; religions; values (morality) (virtue) (crime); wealth mono­poly, 45 Montesquieu, 70, 93, 228 morality See love and sex; poverty vs wealth; values (morality) (virtue) (crime) More, Thomas, 37 Morgan, John Pierpont, 167, 180 Mormons, 26 Moses, Moss, Kate, 173 Mounier, Emmanuel, 36 Mughals, 22 Mumbu, Louise Bibish, 157 Müntzer, Thomas, 20–21 Musil, Robert, 96, 139, 178 Myers, David, 115 Napoleonic period, 52 narcissism, 178–181 National Consultative Commission on H ­ uman Rights (France), 195–196 nationalism, 62, 102 National Socialism, 95 National Socialism (Nazism), 75, 102, 175 Negri, Toni, 92 Nemours, Pierre-­Samuel du Pont de, 97 Nepal, 250n24 new money, 222 Nietz­sche, Friedrich, 170, 172, 175 1960s: the bourgeois and, 166; China and, 39; desires and, 175, 203; dominant classes and, 172; Fitzgerald and, 153; France and, 41, 141; Islamic finance and, 240n16; love and sex and, 139, 141 Nixon, Richard, 63 North ­Korea, 102 Nouveau Part Anticapitaliste, 92 nouveaux riches, 197 See also parvenus Obama, Barack, 70 Oberlé, Thierry, 251n25 Occupy Wall Street, 70 odure, 239 oikonomia, 12–13, 240n8 oil-­producing monarchies, 102 Old Regime, 11, 69, 99, 124, 211, 216 Olivennes, Denis, 239 Onassis, Aristotle, 180 1 ­percent, 248n7, 249n16, 260n24 “On the Eminent Dignity of the Poor” (Bossuet), 31 oppression, 75 Oracle of Omaha, 200–201 ordure, 42–45 Orthodox world, 24 ostracism, 46, 126 Ottomans, 22 Pandit, Bikram, 258n6 parable of the talents, 15–16 276 Index Parsees, 26, 29 parvenus, 196–199, 201–202 Pascal, Blaise, 18, 160, 166 passions, 2–3 patrons, 11, 187, 189, 216 pawnshops, 264n20 peacock throne, 241n38 Péguy, Charles, 44, 195 Penia, 10 Le père Goriot (Balzac), 43 Persian Gulf states, 251n24 philanthropy See charity and generosity; patrons phi­los­o­phers See Plato; sophists; other phi­los­o­phers and schools physicians, 51 Pierre and Gilles, 173, 258n12 Piketty, Thomas, 251n36 Pilgrim’s Pro­g ress (Bunyan), 1718, 235 Pinỗon-ưCharlot, Michel and Monique, 49 Plato, 1011, 97, 171, 234 See also Socrates Plutus (Aristophanes), 10 po­liti­cal correctness, 196 politics, 63, 74, 102 Pol Pot, 95 Poor Richard’s Almanac (Franklin), 85 poverty: advertising and, 83; American God and, 66; attitudes ­toward, 114; Bossuet on, 33; Calvinism and, 34–35; desire for wealth and, 53; dignity and, 31–40; four stages of, 190–194; Franklin on, 66; governments and, 212–215; Hollande on, 51, 246n27; Machiavelli on, 222; of o­ thers, 126; praise of, 194; race and, 66; simulated, 144–146; suffering and, 196; world percentages, 261n8 See also charity and generosity (philanthropy); detachment; poverty vs wealth poverty vs riches: crime vs virtue and, 190 See also in­equality poverty vs wealth: Amer­i­ca and, 70; charity and, 229–230; communism and, 191; envy and, 124–127; France and, 69; gap between, 192; happiness and, 115–116; ­labor and, 116, 193–194; lack of money and, 129–130; marriage and, 143, 146, 151–153; ­middle classes and, 193; overview, 10–14; power and, 178–181; religions and, 22–23, 190–191, 193; social ascent and, 169–170; taxes and, 184–187; virtue and, 235; well-­being and, 194 See also envy; l­abor; parvenus; poverty; values (morality); wealth power, 93–98, 100, 178–181, 186–187, 196, 229 predestination (fatalism) (fate), 25–26, 145, 151, 161, 197, 235 Preobrazhensky, Yevgeni, 38 price, 97, 207–209 pride, 145 prisons, 20 profits, 92, 102, 206, 219, 248n15, 258n6 See also entrepreneurial spirit; speculation; trader, repentant prostitution, 157–159, 162, 257n36 Protestantism, 23, 25, 29–30, 34, 66, 69, 72, 74–75 See also Calvinism; Lutheranism; puritanism; Reformation Prou­dhon, Pierre-­Joseph, 43, 71 277 Index Proust, Marcel, 81, 181 Proverbs, Book of, 234 Providence, 13 public expenditures, 52 public good (common good), 88, 204, 206 See also institutions; social bonds; the state (governments) purgatory, 19–20 puritanism, 10, 54–55, 72, 170, 206, 221–222 Putin, Vladimir, 173 quality and quantity, 98 quantification, 20, 39–40, 80, 81–82, 87, 96, 97–98, 241n34 See also financialization Qu’ils s’en aillent tous! (Mélenchon), 46–47 Quinn, Marc, 173 Rabhi, Pierre, 48 race question, 66 Ramadan, Salafist Tariq, 92 Ranci ère, Jacques, 92 ransoms, 94, 131 real estate loans, 20 rebels, 68 recognition, 118 redemption See salvation Reformation, 24–25, 191 regulation, 64, 87, 158–159, 188–189, 205 religions: Amer­i­ca and, 54; capitalism and, 99; vs economic ­factors, 251n36; economic language and, 17–19; language of money and, 139; mathe­matics and, 98; poverty vs wealth and, 22–23, 190–191, 193; war and, 102 See also Amer­i­ca, spiritual money and; Chris­tian­ity and other religions; salvation; spirituality Re­nais­sance, 97–98, 214 Renard, Jules, 126, 230 Renaudot, Théphraste, 264n20 Renoir, Jean, 230 reparations for crimes against humanity, 96 Repenser la pauvreté (Banerjee & Duflo), 261n2 repentant trader, 120–123 resilience, 145 retirement, 118, 140 retribution, 96–97 Reveries of a Solitary Walker (Rousseau), 203 revolutions, 68 Ricci, Rich, 179 La richesse cachée des nations (Zucman), 262n21 rich kids, 67–69 the right (conservatism), 82, 88–89, 131–133, 167, 169 Rivera, Diego, 38 “robber barons,” 248n11 robots, 122 Rocard, Michel, 56 Rocke­fel­ler, John D., 65, 66, 220 Rohatyn, Felix, 204 Roma, 212 Romania, 22, 24, 95 Romanticism, 80–83, 139, 146, 152 Rome, 96, 220, 228 See also Aurelius, Marcus and other Romans Roo­se­velt, Theodore, 60, 248n11 Rothschild, Alain and Edmond, 131 Rothschild, Baroness de, 67 278 Index Roubini, Nouriel, 188 Rouen Cathedral, 20 Rousseau, Jean-­Jacques, 42–43, 74–75, 115, 203 Roux, Jacques, 43 royalties, 11–12, 239n5 Rus­sia, 22, 24, 37–38, 174, 181, 199, 250n24 See also Bolsheviks; Soviet Union Sacks, Daniel W., 253n10 sacrifice, 209 Saint-­Simon, 70 Saint Victor, Jacques de, 259n18 Salanter, Israël, 214 salaries, 167–169 Le salut par les Juifs (Salvation through the Jews) (Bloy), 133 salvation (redemption), 17, 19–26, 25, 26, 29–30, 179; Amer­i­ca and, 65; of poor, 32 Salvation through the Jews (Le salut par les Juifs) (Bloy), 133 Sandel, Michael, 82 Sarkozy, Nicholas, 47, 49 Sartre, Jean-­Paul, 109 satiety, 127–129, 130 Saudi Arabia, 245n20 Saviano, Roberto, 174 scandals See corruption and scandals Scandinavia, 174–175 schizo­phre­nia, 23, 234–236 Scholasticism, 242n45 Schopenhauer, Arthur, 128, 145 Schumpeter, Joseph, 87–88, 186 Scorsese, Marting, 121 Scrooge McDuck, 28, 114 security, 234 The Seducer’s Diary (Kierkegaard), 256n24 Ségula, Jacques, 245n20 self-­f ulfillment, 128 See also meaning of life self-­interest: concern for o­ thers and, 186; Enlightenment and, 101–102; history and, 82; institutional supervision and, 87–88; love and, 153; marriage and, 140, 143; Pascal on, 18; spirituality and, 36 selfishness, 166 “self-­made man,” 71, 84, 112–113 Seneca, 13, 144, 146 Senegal, 29 Serbia, 24; wealth and, 24 serfdom, 250n24, 251n24 ser­v ice, 85–86 See also freedom Shakespeare, William, 36 Silicon Valley, 188 Simmel, Georg, 255n5 sins: anti-­Semitism and, 133 See also indulgences; salvation Skilling, Jeffrey, 85–86 slavery, 37, 44, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 102, 137, 156, 232 Sloterdijk, Peter, 225 Smith, Adam, 54, 62, 93, 181, 186, 191 social bonds, 87, 88, 93, 186, 225–226 See also charity and generosity; individualism; public good social demo­crats, 251n36 socialism, 50, 70–71, 133, 157, 169, 219 See also Dray, Julien Socrates, 129 See also Plato Sombart, Werner, 242n45 Sophist (Plato), 11 sophists, 11–12 279 Index Soros, George, 223 Soto polar, Hernando de, 192 South Amer­i­ca, 181 sovereignty, 63, 64, 74, 247n5 Soviet Union, 40, 53 See also Rus­sia Spain, 39, 50, 58, 132, 174, 247n36 speculation, 13, 140, 209 See also Soros, George; stock market; tulip mania spendthrifts, 183–184 Spengler, Oswald, 187 sperm club, lucky, 67–69 spirituality, 36, 44–45, 115 See also religions Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (Balzac), 156–157 “spoofing,” 121 Stalin, Joseph, 16 Standard & Poors (US), 260n36 the state (governments), 195, 204–205, 247n1, 261n2 See also institutions; laws; taxes “Statue of Anne” (France), 216 status, 184 Steiner, Rudolf, 137 Stendhal, 24, 156, 159 Stepanov, Ivan, 37–38 Stevenson, Betsey, 253n10 Stewart, Michael, 251n35 Stiglitz, Joseph, 186 Sting, 67 stock market, 43, 175, 188, 201, 205, 262n21 See also finance stock market and traders, 254n22 Stoics, 13, 145–146, 236 suffering, 130, 196 See also adversity suffrage censitaire, 53 surrealism, 203 survival, 203 Sutter, Johann August, 27–29 Sweden, 55, 159 Switzerland, 62, 262n21 See also Eu­rope Syria, 131 taboos, 48, 90 Taine, Hippolyte, 165 Taj Mahal, 241n38 talents, parable of, 15–16 Tantalus, 119, 123 taste, 198 taxes: beggars as, 212–215; Car­ne­gie on, 219; charity vs., 225–227; commodification of ­people and, 95; dissidents of, 181; France and, 45, 47, 53, 55, 245n21; fraud and, 205, 262n21; graduated vs punitive, 53, 246n30; in­equality and, 161; poverty / wealth and, 184–187; protests and, 184 “taxi-­girls” (Chicago), 257n36 Tea Party, 245n16 Tender is the Night (Fitzgerald), 151 terrorism, 100–101, 102, 187, 227, 251n36 See also ISIS Tessarach, Bruno, 82 Theaetetus (Plato), 11 Thévenoud, Thomas, 55 “third world,” 196 Tibet, 250n24 time, 3, 14, 15, 17, 25, 110, 137 tips (gratuities), 215–218 Toblerone affair (1995), 55 Tocqueville, Alexis de, 70, 75, 145 Torreton, Philippe, 47 Touraine, Marisol, 51 280 Index trader, repentant, 120–123 traders, 46 See also finance; stock market transparency, 55 Trierweiler, Valérie, 51 Trollope, Anthony, 198 Trotsky, Leon, 38 tulip mania, 95, 188–189 2008 crisis: American anger and, 46; beggars and, 214; capitalism and, 204–205; corruption and, 123, 254n22; debt and, 231–232; desires and, 114–115; economists on, 118, 188; Greek crisis / Tea Party and, 245n16 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 179–180 Vatican, 19, 23–24, 196, 241n41, 241n43 Veenhoven, Ruut, 253n10 Venezuela, 174 vengeance, 96 Vergunst, Floris, 253n10 Verneuil, Henri, 252n1 Viansson-ưPontộ, Pierre, 52 Villon, Franỗois, 128 vioưlence, 96, 102 Virgil, 27 Virgin Mary, 58 virtue See values (morality) (virtue) (crime) Une voix sur Israël (Claudel), 44–45 Voltaire, 42–43, 56, 187 UN, 227 United States See Amer­i­ca universal minimum income, 116–117 U.S Supreme Court, 91 usury, 15, 33, 140, 183, 206, 264n20 Utopia (More), 37 Valéry, Paul, 105 value (monetary) See price value (worthiness), 154 See also dignity values (morality) (virtue) (crime): Amer­i­ca and, 54–55; Aristotle on, 13; bourgeois, 165–189, 173–174, 186; capitalism and, 89–93, 98–99, 204–205, 210; commercialization and, 83, 103–104; Franklin and, 84–85; Italy and, 259; love and sex and, 90, 94; or­ga­nized, 173–175; overview, 89–93; poverty vs wealth and, 235; profits and, 206; public, 222–223 See also corruption; dignity; gangsters; love and sex; Mafia; poverty vs wealth; taboos Wallerstein, Immanuel, 92, 93 Wall Street, 69, 188 Warhol, Andy, 61 wars, 100, 102 wealth: Amer­i­ca and, 41–42, 69, 71; culture and, 170; as curse, 218–222; disaster and, 188–189; duties of, 202–206; Eu­rope and, 72; France and, 48, 72, 245n22; Franklin on, 85; management of, 12–13; narcissism and, 178–181; petrification and, 181; social conventions and, 199; unbounded, 13 See also charity and generosity (philanthropy); chrematistics; fortune (riches); greed; heirs; 1 ­percent; poverty vs wealth Weber, Max, 25, 167, 170, 186, 242n45 welfare state, 205 well-­being, 130, 222 281 Index West, Kanye, Wharton, Edith, 81, 149, 179 “Whore of Babylon,” 20–21 Wilson, Woodrow, 60 wisdom of money, 4–5, 40, 85, 129, 232, 234–236 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 68 Wolfe, Tom, 82 Wolfers, Justin, 253n10 The Wolf of Wall Street (film), 121 Wolman, David, 259n20 Wolsey, Thomas, 126 ­women, 99 See also love and sex; marriage won­der, 134 Wurst, Conchita, 173 Yazidi girl, 251n25 Yiquian, Liu, 173 Zaoui, Pierre, 245n16 Zelizer, Viviana A., 99 Zizek, Slavoj, 92 Zola, Émile: on buying love / sex, 79, 137, 138; on charity, 219–220, 228–230; on envy, 124–125; on exploitation, 35; on marriage, 142; on odor of money, 54; on parvenus, 198; on proletarians, 190; on rich fool, 200; on royalties, 12 Zucman, Gabriel, 262n21 Zweig, Stefan, 58 282 ... The first bishops accused the Jews of worshipping money, and of having sold the Messiah, through the mediation of Judas, for a few pieces of silver But it was the denunciation of usury that the. .. Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of Amer­i­ca Used by... instantaneously, in the depths of the desert as well as in the most remote islands Money implies, first of all, confidence In Rome, the first coins ­were connected with their ­owners and the credit they enjoyed