Aristotle believed that the biggest and most widespread source of political tension is the struggle between the haves and the have-nots. More than 2,000 years later, he’s got a point.

Aristotle’s political thought might provide a more solid foundation for liberal politics than the view of human nature offered by early modern theorists. Professor Nichols studies Greek political ...

The Currency of Politics: The Political Theory of Money from Aristotle to Keynes by Stefan Eich, Princeton University Press, $35/£28, 344 pages.