Today’s wealth gap is much bigger, and the country’s richest have much more power than they once did. It’s an Age of Oligarchy

For many, the era of US history that most resembles contemporary America is easy to identify: the Gilded Age.

It is, in certain ways, an apt comparison. Like modern America, the Gilded Age saw a small number of men tower over US politics and industry alike. Rising atop a swell of wealth inequality, figures like Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller mixed private interests with public policy, opening doors in Washington and beyond with ease. Their model is a clear precedent for figures such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and more.

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© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

Oil-rich Guyana is enjoying red-hot growth. But the boom is magnifying tensions over corruption, inequality and strained ties with Venezuela.

© Cesar Rodriguez for The New York Times

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