In this concise and elegant work, first published in 1952, Bertrand de Jouvenel purposely ignores the economic evidence that redistributional efforts sap incentives and are economically destructive. Rather, he stresses the commonly disregarded ethical arguments showing that redistribution is ethically indefensible for, and practically unworkable in, a complex society.

Bertrand de Jouvenel was an author and teacher, first publishing On Power in 1945.

John Gray is Professor Emeritus of European Thought at the London School of Economics.