From: Dave Long (dl@silcom.com)
Date: Mon May 29 2000 - 23:52:45 PDT
Oops, I gave some figures based on very faulty memory here:
> valuation on the debate over democracy in Athens is that it centered
> over whether the city would be run by those with a net worth over
> $250K (2000 USD), or merely by all the rabble with only $100+K to
> their name. (those were based on percentage of population and
> wealth distribution; after reading the figures given in
> _Courtesans and Fishcakes_, it seems like $1.25M and $500K might
> be better representative figures of equivalent purchasing power)
Odd, there seems to be a hole in the archives from Wed 19 Jan to
Sat 22 Jan?
In my message of the 20th, "Re: [Kudlow] In Praise of Economic Freedom",
the estimate (based on figures from Durant) which I had recently
misremembered was actually:
> [3] If I have calculated correctly, the Athenian debates about
> whether democracy would lead to mob rule involved a matter of
> extending the franchise from those with the equivalent wealth
> (assuming a similar distribution) of nearly a million USD to
> those with only a couple of hundred thousand.
Unfortunately, I have neither Durant nor Davidson here now to
recreate my original calculations. For future reference (as if
anyone actually cared) my Davidson figures are: mina, $8000;
drachma, $80; and obol, $13.
-Dave
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