Watson Institute at Brown University
Stone Inequality Initiative

Extreme Wealth in the News

A selection of news reports and longform articles on the New Gilded Age. Whereas the bibliography offers more academic-facing works, the pieces here have a broader audience in mind.

When Private Equity Came for Toddler Gyms
The New York Times January 28, 2023
By: Lydia DePillis & Michael Corkery


Farmland Values Hit Record Highs, Pricing Out Farmers
The New York Times November 13, 2022
By: Linda Qiu


How a Secretive Billionaire Handed his Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts
ProPublica August 22, 2022
By: Andrew Perez, Andy Kroll, and Justin Elliott


The fabulously wealthy are fueling a booming luxury ranch market out West
The Washington Post August 16, 2022
By: Karen Heller


The Haves and the Have-Yachts
The New Yorker July 18, 2022
By: Evan Osnos


Buck Ellison's Great White Society
The New York Times June 24, 2022
By: Travis Diehl


Modern Capitalism is Weirder Than You Think

New York Magazine March 15, 2022
By: Eric Levitz


The Great Inheritors: How Three Families Shielded Their Fortunes From Taxes for Generations
ProPublica December 15, 2021
By: Patricia Callahan, James Bandler, Justin Elliott, Doris Burke, Jeff Ernsthausen


U.S. Wealth Gap Rises With Jackson Hole Coming at the Top
Bloomberg August 18, 2021
By: Augusta Saravia


Beyond 'food deserts': America needs a new approach to mapping food insecurity
The Brookings Institution August 17, 2021
By: Caroline George & Adie Tomer


Why Buy a Yacht When You Can Buy a Newspaper?
The New York Times April 10, 2021
By: Nicholas Kulish


When Wall Street Controls the Housing Market
Planetizen April 7, 2021
By: James Brasuell


If You Sell a House These Days, the Buyer Might Be a Pension Fund
The Wall Street Journal April 4, 2021
By: Ryan Dezember


What Happens When Investment Firms Acquire Trailer Parks
The New Yorker March 8, 2021
By: Sheelah Kolhatkar 


How Private-Equity Firms Squeeze Hospital Patients for Profit
The New Yorker April 9, 2020
By: Sheelah Kolhatkar 


Private Equity Buyouts in Healthcare: Who Wins, Who Loses?
Institute for New Economic Thinking March 25, 2020
By: Eileen Appelbaum & Rosemary Batt


A $60 Billion Housing Grab by Wall Street
The New York Times March 4, 2020
By: Francesca Mari


US private equity moves into trailer parks
Financial Times May 19, 2019
By: Rana Foroohar


A billion-dollar empire made of mobile homes
The Washington Post February 14, 2019
By: Peter Whoriskey


When Wall Street is Your Landlord
The Atlantic February 13, 2019
By: Alana Semuels


Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the 'pencil towers' of New York's super-rich
The Guardian February 5, 2019
By: Oliver Wainwright


How did Members of Congress Get so Wealthy?
The Atlantic September 9, 2014
By: Noah Gordon