WEBVTT - Wealth In America

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<v Speaker 1>In Elon Musk's case, I'm not trying to diminish what

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<v Speaker 1>he's done, but he seems to be less about building

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<v Speaker 1>something rather than moving from one entrepreneurial activity to another.

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<v Speaker 1>And we'll see if that's sustainable wealth. Historically, it has

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<v Speaker 1>not been welcome to one day university talks with the

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<v Speaker 1>world's most engaging and inspiring professors discussing their most popular courses.

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<v Speaker 1>This podcast is your chance to discover some of our

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<v Speaker 1>top rated lectures on your own schedule. I'm Steven Schragis,

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<v Speaker 1>can you name a billionaire? I bet you can. They're

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<v Speaker 1>as famous as Hollywood celebrities Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates. But

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<v Speaker 1>how well do you know the wealthy Americans of the past?

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<v Speaker 1>Names like Vanderbilt and Carnegie and Rockefeller are plastered all

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<v Speaker 1>over buildings across the US. How do these and impact

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<v Speaker 1>our lives today? Professor Jeremy Surry talks about this in

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<v Speaker 1>his one day university lecture called A History of American Wealth.

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<v Speaker 1>He teaches history at the University of Texas and he

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<v Speaker 1>co hosts his own weekly podcast, This Is Democracy with

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<v Speaker 1>his son. Jeremy explains that to understand wealth in America today,

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<v Speaker 1>you have to first understand its history. I think there

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<v Speaker 1>is a tendency to treat wealth as very specific to

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<v Speaker 1>a time and place, and so we tend not to

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<v Speaker 1>think about comparing someone like Cornelius Vanderbilt, who builds railroads,

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<v Speaker 1>with someone like Elon Musk who builds electric cars and

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<v Speaker 1>twitter and things of that, and they seem so different.

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<v Speaker 1>I came up though, with this comparison. I think this

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<v Speaker 1>comparison is absolutely important because as a historian, what I'm

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<v Speaker 1>interested in are the lines of continuity as well as

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<v Speaker 1>disc continuity from one period to another. And the way

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<v Speaker 1>to think about history is to think about it like archaeology.

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<v Speaker 1>It's layered, and so the new is not built on

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<v Speaker 1>the destruction of the old. The new is actually built

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<v Speaker 1>on the old and their elements of the old. In

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<v Speaker 1>terms of our legal structure, our practice, our culture, the

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<v Speaker 1>way we think about wealth that are still related to

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<v Speaker 1>that period long ago. I think this is important in

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<v Speaker 1>helping us to understand what it is that makes for

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<v Speaker 1>wealth today and how it builds on the layers of

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<v Speaker 1>what came before. I'm going to say the phrase wealth inequality.

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<v Speaker 1>You have people who think it's not a problem, it's

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<v Speaker 1>a big problem. It's a huge problem. It's not a

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<v Speaker 1>new problem. Yes, I think this is a really important point.

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<v Speaker 1>I think if there's one thing to remember from the lecture,

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<v Speaker 1>it's that we have been struggling as a society to

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<v Speaker 1>make sense and figure out what to do about wealth

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<v Speaker 1>inequality since the late nineteenth century. This Stephen is what

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Twain is commenting on when he coins the phrase

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<v Speaker 1>gilded Age. It's an ironic phrase, as everything is with

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Twain. And why is this. Our system does a

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<v Speaker 1>very good job of rewarding innovation. Those who produce something new,

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<v Speaker 1>the John David Rockefellers, those who create a new industry,

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<v Speaker 1>as Rockefeller did, they get rewarded handsomely in the American

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<v Speaker 1>capitalist system. And that's of course what encourages them to

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<v Speaker 1>do what they do. That's what encourages immigrants to come

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<v Speaker 1>to our society and become business people in this way,

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<v Speaker 1>but in rewarding innovation, that means that those who are

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<v Speaker 1>less innovative are often left far behind, and there is

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<v Speaker 1>a very deep hole that people can fall into. Failure

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<v Speaker 1>is as possible in our society as success. And the

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<v Speaker 1>question is if we are to be a peaceful, stable,

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<v Speaker 1>democratic polity. What do you do with those who haven't

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<v Speaker 1>been as fortunate, who haven't been as successful. The late

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<v Speaker 1>nineteenth century shows us that when our system is perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>working best in terms of producing innovation, Stephen, it's also

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<v Speaker 1>producing a lot of people who get left behind and

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<v Speaker 1>are barely subsisting. We struggled with that then and we're

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<v Speaker 1>struggling with it today. We have to see that's not

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<v Speaker 1>just a problem of today. That's a problem of our system,

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<v Speaker 1>and we need to think about what kinds of systemic

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<v Speaker 1>reforms we believe are appropriate. Franklin Rosal had an answer

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<v Speaker 1>to that. That's what the New Deal was about. We

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<v Speaker 1>have to ask ourselves today, what kind of answer do

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<v Speaker 1>we want. I'm living in Austin, Texas right now. We

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<v Speaker 1>have some of the wealthiest Americans who are moving here,

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<v Speaker 1>are becoming wealthy here, and now we have a huge

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<v Speaker 1>homeless problem. At the same time. These two things go

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<v Speaker 1>hand in hand. It's an old problem. It's a systemic problem.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not about the current individuals. How do we address that.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a historical question, and history helps us to see

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<v Speaker 1>how important it is. You mentioned Mark Twain coined the

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<v Speaker 1>phrase guilded age give us a little more. When did

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<v Speaker 1>he do that? What did he mean by gilded age? Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>great question. I was just talking to my undergraduates about this.

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<v Speaker 1>So Mark Twain wrote a novel, who wrote many, many novels,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer. He wrote a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>mediocre novel in eighteen seventy three with a co author,

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<v Speaker 1>and the novel was called American The Guilded Age. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's where he used the phrase guilded Age. And he

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<v Speaker 1>meant that the country after the Civil War, especially in

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<v Speaker 1>the North, especially in New York, was coming to look

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<v Speaker 1>more wealthy and becoming more of a world power, but

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<v Speaker 1>that beneath the gold surface, beneath the surface of the wealth,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a lot of crud, a lot of difficulty,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of poverty, and so it was not a

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<v Speaker 1>golden country. It was a gilded country. And he was

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<v Speaker 1>commenting on both the wealth on the surface in a

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<v Speaker 1>place like New York City and the poverty and the

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<v Speaker 1>continued suffering, particularly in the South. Suddenly, I've recently written

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<v Speaker 1>about right the problems of integrating that region and integrating

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<v Speaker 1>African Americans into the larger development of the American economy.

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<v Speaker 1>You chose three wealthy individuals from an earlier time, and

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<v Speaker 1>you chose three very wealthy individuals from our time. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>those are not the only wealthy individuals you could have

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<v Speaker 1>chosen from either group. For instance, the first group Vanderbilt, Carnegie,

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<v Speaker 1>and Rockefeller. Why did you choose those three? And who

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<v Speaker 1>did you almost choose but left out? Oh? Great, great question.

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<v Speaker 1>So the person I almost chose was Jay Gould. And

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<v Speaker 1>Jay Gould, I hope some of your listeners know about

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<v Speaker 1>Jay Gould. There's been a lot written about him. He

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<v Speaker 1>was also a railroad mogul like Cornelius Vanderbilt, and he

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<v Speaker 1>was responsible for a huge bubble of overinvestment in railways

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<v Speaker 1>and then the collapse of the American economy in what

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<v Speaker 1>turned out to be almost as bad as the Great

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<v Speaker 1>Depression is so called Panic of eighteen seventy three. So

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<v Speaker 1>he was a great man of success and a great

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<v Speaker 1>man of failure who in some ways brought down the

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<v Speaker 1>American economy, brought down the Grant presidency. But I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to get lost in that debate about the eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy three depression. I chose three individuals who I thought

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<v Speaker 1>had some name recognition, who people recognize their importance, but

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<v Speaker 1>didn't know a lot about them. And that's particularly true,

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<v Speaker 1>I think for Vanderbilt. I grew up in New York City.

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<v Speaker 1>If you go to Grand Central Station, of course it's

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<v Speaker 1>on Vanderbilt Avenue. The name Vanderbilt is all over the place,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's a name people recognize, but most people don't

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<v Speaker 1>know much about. And that's often, I think a very

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<v Speaker 1>good strategy for getting people interested in history. Take something

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<v Speaker 1>you recognize and then help people to see what it's

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<v Speaker 1>really about, where it came from. Let's skip to the

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<v Speaker 1>last three, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezous, and Elon Musk. Why

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<v Speaker 1>those three WHO'DU leave out so many? I left out

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Zuckerberg for example, I left out then they're also

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<v Speaker 1>the oil people, Howard Hunt, various others here in Texas.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I chose the three people there who I

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<v Speaker 1>thought were in the news most now who have become

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<v Speaker 1>more than just wealthy individuals, but political figures in our society.

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<v Speaker 1>Musk obviously with Twitter as well as Tesla. Bill Gates

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<v Speaker 1>is always commenting on environ mental issues and things of

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<v Speaker 1>that sort. And Jeff Bezos, because he's also been so controversial,

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<v Speaker 1>he comes up in every discussion of main street stores

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<v Speaker 1>and how to story survive with Amazon. So in this case,

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<v Speaker 1>I was choosing figures who I figured people knew a

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<v Speaker 1>lot about, but I was trying, just as you said

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<v Speaker 1>so well before, Stephen, to connect them to the earlier

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<v Speaker 1>figures we know less about. And so I thought that

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<v Speaker 1>made sense. And then the other thing is I think

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<v Speaker 1>these are three certainly of the most important individuals. You

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<v Speaker 1>could make an argument that Zuckerberg is equally important and

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<v Speaker 1>come up with a few other individuals, but it would

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<v Speaker 1>be hard to find three people more important to our

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<v Speaker 1>economy today than these three individuals. After the break, what

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<v Speaker 1>philanthropy meant to these ultra rich men and what wealth

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<v Speaker 1>might look like in the future. A really interesting part

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<v Speaker 1>of your talk where you're talking and contrasting philanthropy and

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<v Speaker 1>wealth and the relationship between the two, and how it

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<v Speaker 1>was different and the thinking was different among these six

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<v Speaker 1>very wealthy individuals. And I really loved this part where

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<v Speaker 1>you were contrasting Carnegie and Rockefeller, both very philanthropic but

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<v Speaker 1>very different in their thinking. Can you tell us about

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<v Speaker 1>that a little sure? I think one of the really

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<v Speaker 1>important points here is that the great wealth produced in

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<v Speaker 1>the late nineteenth century creates a whole new area of

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<v Speaker 1>activity called philanthropy. But what philanthropy means, as you said

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<v Speaker 1>so well, Stephen, is different from individual to individuals. So

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<v Speaker 1>for Carnegie, he really thinks about doing something for other

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<v Speaker 1>immigrant boys like him, for those who are really trying

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<v Speaker 1>to make their way in society, and in particular the

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<v Speaker 1>Carnegie libraries, which are still a mainstay of so many

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<v Speaker 1>communities in the United States, many small towns. The main

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<v Speaker 1>library is still what was originally a Carnegie library, funded

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<v Speaker 1>by carne Age's wealth. He really wants to do something

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<v Speaker 1>that's evident and that reaches out and touches quite frankly, young,

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<v Speaker 1>down and out people and gives them a chance to

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<v Speaker 1>improve themselves. What better than a public library in your town.

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<v Speaker 1>For John David Rockefeller ad something different. He wants to

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<v Speaker 1>create institutions that he believes will create the kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>behavior and systemic changes in America that he thinks will

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<v Speaker 1>be beneficial for the United States and for the economy

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<v Speaker 1>as he thinks about it. So that's why the Rockefeller

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<v Speaker 1>Foundation gets involved, not in building libraries per se, but

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<v Speaker 1>in trying to fund particular kinds of research in health

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<v Speaker 1>and medicine, founding a university, the University of Chicago. It's

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<v Speaker 1>educational in the way that the libraries are, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>designed to be an elite institution. The University of Chicago

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<v Speaker 1>is to compete with the Harvards in the Yales and

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<v Speaker 1>so as a different approach that John David Rockefeller has.

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<v Speaker 1>And he's not an immigrant, and Rockefeller does think more

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of hierarchy in a more traditional religious sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's move on to the layer group, the current billionaires.

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<v Speaker 1>What about their philanthropy, I mean, in a certain way.

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<v Speaker 1>That's too early to tell, but it is clear that

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<v Speaker 1>Bill Gates has made a very strong commitment to give

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<v Speaker 1>most of his money away and to invest it in

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<v Speaker 1>areas where he believes that brain power will make the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest difference. He's a nerd who made his money as

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<v Speaker 1>a nerd, and so he's investing in nerdy things like

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<v Speaker 1>trying to find the right vaccine to help cure disease

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<v Speaker 1>around the world, investing in technologies that will help to

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<v Speaker 1>mitigate climate change. It's a very technical centered way. Jeff

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<v Speaker 1>Bezos seems to be investing in things that will stabilize

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<v Speaker 1>the society. That Amazon is selling products to so the

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Post. I think of that he bought The Washington Post,

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<v Speaker 1>and I don't think he's doing it to make money

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<v Speaker 1>at all. But I think he believes that having a

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<v Speaker 1>serious new serve helps to stabilize the country. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>public service that also helps to stabilize the world that

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon works in. And then Elon Musk. I have to say,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really too early to tell. Most of Elon musk

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<v Speaker 1>stuff seems to be self promotional so far, but I

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to be unfair because he's probably doing things

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<v Speaker 1>we don't see yet. One phrase you used describing Elon

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<v Speaker 1>Musk was that he is a new type entirely. You

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<v Speaker 1>said he was a quantum leap in how we think

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<v Speaker 1>about being wealthy. What were you getting at when you're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Elon Musk. Well, the thing about Musk, and

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<v Speaker 1>we'll see whether he stays wealthy or not, is that

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<v Speaker 1>his wealth has been not in just doing one thing.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been in fluctuating from one thing to another. I

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<v Speaker 1>happen to be a fan of Tesla cars. I driver Tesla.

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<v Speaker 1>I think he helped push forward the electric car industry.

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<v Speaker 1>But he's doing SpaceX, He's doing Twitter he's doing all

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<v Speaker 1>sorts of other things, I think, often to the detriment

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<v Speaker 1>of some of his core attribe. But he is more

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<v Speaker 1>the entrepreneur than the business builder. And let me make

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<v Speaker 1>this clear. Entrepreneurs make a lot of money in American history.

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<v Speaker 1>But the billionaires, the ones who are super wealthy, the

0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.800
<v Speaker 1>ones we're talking about here, they usually built something. Rockefeller

0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.240
<v Speaker 1>built the oil industry for the world. Carnegie built the

0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:23.800
<v Speaker 1>steel industry in the United States. Vanderbilt built the train lines,

0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.160
<v Speaker 1>Bill Gates built the operating system that ran most of

0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.559
<v Speaker 1>our computers. Right, Jeff Bezos created the Global Department Store.

0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.120
<v Speaker 1>In Elon Musk's case, I'm not trying to diminish what

0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.960
<v Speaker 1>he's done, but he seems to be less about building

0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.679
<v Speaker 1>something rather than moving from one entrepreneurial activity to another.

0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.800
<v Speaker 1>And we'll see if that's sustainable wealth. Historically it has

0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.640
<v Speaker 1>not been. Okay, Now here's a phrase I had never

0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:54.679
<v Speaker 1>heard before, geographic wealth clustering. What's going on here? So

0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.400
<v Speaker 1>this is a concept that sociologists use. It. It's what

0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.240
<v Speaker 1>my grandmother would call high salutant language for a very

0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.560
<v Speaker 1>simple thing, which is that wealth tends not to be

0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:09.200
<v Speaker 1>evenly distributed across territory. It tends to grow together, it

0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.640
<v Speaker 1>tends to cluster together, it tends to be in hubs.

0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.320
<v Speaker 1>And that's for at least two reasons. One is that

0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.440
<v Speaker 1>there's usually something about a particular place that produces wealth.

0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:20.800
<v Speaker 1>So one of the things I tried to show in

0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.840
<v Speaker 1>the lecture is that this region we might call the

0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:28.480
<v Speaker 1>Upper Midwest, from western New York State all the way

0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:33.040
<v Speaker 1>across to Chicago, including Cleveland and Detroit, this area has

0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:36.160
<v Speaker 1>a comparative advantage in producing wealth in the second half

0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.520
<v Speaker 1>of the nineteenth century because it's located where the railroad

0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.560
<v Speaker 1>meets the Great Lakes. It's also an area that has

0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:46.680
<v Speaker 1>a lot of labor, immigrant labor and migrating African American

0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.480
<v Speaker 1>labor from the South. And it's an area that has

0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.480
<v Speaker 1>a lot of water, and the factories are running off water.

0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.760
<v Speaker 1>So it has all the resources needed in the way

0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.160
<v Speaker 1>Texas doesn't then to produce a lot of wealth. And

0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:03.000
<v Speaker 1>so that's why you get the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies,

0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.800
<v Speaker 1>all in this region at that time different from today.

0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.680
<v Speaker 1>No one would say that area today is producing the

0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.560
<v Speaker 1>greatest wealth. People would look actually to Austin Texas, they'd

0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:15.720
<v Speaker 1>look to Silicon Valley. So there are reasons why wealth

0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.160
<v Speaker 1>occurs in part in particular places. There's a second phenomenon,

0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.400
<v Speaker 1>which is that wealthy people like to be around other

0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.520
<v Speaker 1>wealthy people. We see this in Austin, Texas today. One

0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.880
<v Speaker 1>of the reasons why wealthy Californians are moving to my

0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.960
<v Speaker 1>city to Austin is because other wealthy people have moved

0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.320
<v Speaker 1>from California to Austin. And it's not just that they

0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.080
<v Speaker 1>want to be around other wealthy people to show if

0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.600
<v Speaker 1>their wealth. It's that, in the case of Austin, people

0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.880
<v Speaker 1>who are very tech savvy and really into technological entrepreneurship,

0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:45.960
<v Speaker 1>they want to be around other people doing that. So

0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.720
<v Speaker 1>it's an intellectual climate. There's a university that filters that.

0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.000
<v Speaker 1>So it's both the resources of the space at a

0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:56.640
<v Speaker 1>particular time and the people and then the ways in

0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.520
<v Speaker 1>which you get a kind of crowd effect as more

0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.760
<v Speaker 1>of one and moved to one place. All right, let

0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.720
<v Speaker 1>me throw out a couple of phrases, anti trust laws

0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.360
<v Speaker 1>and income tax. How do they factor it the banes

0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.880
<v Speaker 1>of so many people's existence. Yes, so anti trust laws

0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.680
<v Speaker 1>are created in the late nineteenth century and they are

0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.800
<v Speaker 1>promoted by people like William Jennings Bryan and of course

0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.440
<v Speaker 1>Theodore Roosevelt. Antitrust laws are created to prevent monopoly. The

0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:28.440
<v Speaker 1>trusts were the monopolies, and the targets for Theodore Roosevelt

0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.920
<v Speaker 1>were the mining companies, the railroad companies, and other entities

0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:37.280
<v Speaker 1>that became so large that they controlled the economy, and

0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:39.840
<v Speaker 1>that meant there was no competition, which meant they could

0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:43.960
<v Speaker 1>basically charge people whatever they wanted. The classic example of this,

0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.640
<v Speaker 1>of course, the biggest anti trust case in the world

0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.760
<v Speaker 1>in modern history is of course Standard Oil, Rockefeller's company,

0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.080
<v Speaker 1>which is broken up in the early twentieth century into

0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.040
<v Speaker 1>the Seven Sisters, each of which is still a huge company.

0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.880
<v Speaker 1>But the antitrust argument, very straightforward, was that Rockefeller not

0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.920
<v Speaker 1>only owned all the oil, he owned all the oil distribution,

0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:07.280
<v Speaker 1>all the refineries, and so that meant that in some

0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.920
<v Speaker 1>ways he controlled everyone's life as people started using more

0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:14.240
<v Speaker 1>and more oil. The approach most have taken is to

0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.640
<v Speaker 1>either break up and create competition, that's what anti trust

0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.320
<v Speaker 1>would say, or to create public utilities. In most of

0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.240
<v Speaker 1>our states, con Edison in New York, Austin Energy in

0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.080
<v Speaker 1>Austin is a utility that's a regulated monopoly. Antitrust laws

0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:29.200
<v Speaker 1>are designed to prevent monopoly. They were often, though, used

0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:31.720
<v Speaker 1>against labor unions and other groups, so they could be

0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.040
<v Speaker 1>used not just against economic monopolies, but against those that

0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.920
<v Speaker 1>were perceived rightfully or wrongfully as other kinds of monopolies.

0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.439
<v Speaker 1>Income tax. The income tax is also created in the

0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:47.080
<v Speaker 1>early twentieth century. It's the sixteenth Amendment nineteen thirteen, and

0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:52.399
<v Speaker 1>the income tax is an effort to redistribute the exorbitant

0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:57.480
<v Speaker 1>earnings of certain individuals in the economy and to use

0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.359
<v Speaker 1>that money to invest. This is what progressives want, like

0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:05.080
<v Speaker 1>Theodore Roosevelt, to invest that money in building at least

0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:08.280
<v Speaker 1>a floor, some foundation for those who are not as fortunate.

0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:11.879
<v Speaker 1>Before there was a income tax, a federal income tax.

0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.800
<v Speaker 1>Most of these very wealthy people were talking about paid zero.

0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.639
<v Speaker 1>They didn't pay a state or federal income tax. There

0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.240
<v Speaker 1>was no capital gains tax. The federal government got most

0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.760
<v Speaker 1>of its revenue before the twentieth century from tariffs on

0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:30.120
<v Speaker 1>trade and from rents and selling land owned by the government.

0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:34.720
<v Speaker 1>The income tax then becomes a major source of federal revenue,

0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:36.480
<v Speaker 1>and it starts out as a very small tax for

0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:40.600
<v Speaker 1>the very wealthiest of individuals. Final question, We're going to

0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.600
<v Speaker 1>go back to that concept of wealth clustering, and you

0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.359
<v Speaker 1>described it back in the Gilded Age, and you described

0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:51.280
<v Speaker 1>it now. Let's pretend a little and jump forward. What

0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.840
<v Speaker 1>do you think wealth clustering will look like many years

0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.600
<v Speaker 1>from now? Any predictions? I think. I'm going to make

0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.439
<v Speaker 1>these predictions based on my students. What I see my

0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:03.439
<v Speaker 1>students interested in when I was in college, and I

0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:05.400
<v Speaker 1>think when you were in college to even everyone wanted

0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:07.399
<v Speaker 1>to live in New York City and work for Goldman

0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:09.960
<v Speaker 1>Sacks because that's where the money was. My students don't

0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.200
<v Speaker 1>want those jobs now, I mean some will still take them, right.

0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:14.520
<v Speaker 1>They want to live in a cool place, they want

0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.199
<v Speaker 1>a high quality of life. They don't plan to go

0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:20.400
<v Speaker 1>to the office every day. So where is the clustering

0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.040
<v Speaker 1>going to be. It's going to be in cool places

0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.280
<v Speaker 1>to live with climate change. It's going to be in

0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.760
<v Speaker 1>places that have nice climates, that have good internet access,

0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:32.560
<v Speaker 1>places that are cosmopolitan with interesting people, interesting entertainment in

0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:34.560
<v Speaker 1>the arts. So it's going to be cities, but they're

0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:36.480
<v Speaker 1>going to look different. Austin is kind of a little

0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.240
<v Speaker 1>bit like this, but it won't remain the only place

0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:41.720
<v Speaker 1>or the top place that people come. I think we're

0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.000
<v Speaker 1>going to see more and more communities, maybe a Boulder,

0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:50.480
<v Speaker 1>Colorado that has a lot of the lifestyle choices people

0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.400
<v Speaker 1>want to make that will draw people, and it will

0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.000
<v Speaker 1>be less office based, more living based. Jeremy, thanks so much.

0:19:57.320 --> 0:19:59.640
<v Speaker 1>Your electron Wealth really was probably one of the most

0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:03.199
<v Speaker 1>interest hours we've ever had at Monday University. Thank you, Stephen.

0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:07.280
<v Speaker 1>I always enjoy working with you and with One Day University.

0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.400
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us here at One Day University. Sign

0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.119
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0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.600
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0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.880
<v Speaker 1>lectures from the world's finest professors. You can also download

0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.240
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0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:29.679
<v Speaker 1>and watch University of Texas Professor Jeremy series lecture on

0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.800
<v Speaker 1>the history of American wealth, as well as its talks

0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:37.760
<v Speaker 1>on presidential leadership, the Cold War, and more. Join us

0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.800
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0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.280
<v Speaker 1>say Cleopatra, the members of your audience are going to

0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:49.960
<v Speaker 1>immediately think of Elizabeth Taylor with her great blue eyeshadow.

0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:52.520
<v Speaker 1>We in fact don't know and that was kind of

0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.600
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