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.

Yet the further we get into the 2020s, the more the comparison to the Gilded Age risks obscuring, rather than enlightening, realities in the US. There are parallels, yes. But the current situation in the US now dwarfs even the height of the Gilded Age, both in terms of the total levels of wealth inequality brought to bear, as well as the influence this small cohort of men now have.

Consider the total wealth personally controlled by some of these figures. Rockefeller, the richest of the Gilded Age tycoons, died worth the equivalent of approximately $30bn, adjusted for inflation. Not bad, clearly. But compare that to Musk’s net worth. The Tesla and Starlink chief may no longer........

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