Year old Paul Krugman video & text lavish praise reviews of French economist Piketty's book: Capital in the twenty-first century
Over a year old but it is Paul Krugman showering tremendous praise on a book by French economist Thomas Piketty, Capital in the twenty-first century. Here's a video interview of Paul Krugman on the book and related topics by Bill Moyers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0, 24 min. 30 secs, published Apr. 18th 2014, which I found to be quite easy to understand.
And here's a text book review by Krugman, over a year ago again, which I found to be not as easy as the video interview, but still an important review, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/may/08/thomas-piketty-new-gilded-age/ .
The book also has a wikipedia page. Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century:
Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a 2013 book by French economist Thomas Piketty. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century. It was initially published in French (as Le Capital au XXIe siècle) in August 2013; an English translation by Arthur Goldhammer followed in April 2014.
The book's central thesis is that when the rate of return on capital (r) is greater than the rate of economic growth (g) over the long term, the result is concentration of wealth, and this unequal distribution of wealth causes social and economic instability. Piketty proposes a global system of progressive wealth taxes to help reduce inequality and avoid the vast majority of wealth coming under the control of a tiny minority.
On May 18, 2014, the English edition reached number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List for best selling hardcover nonfiction and became the greatest sales success ever of academic publisher Harvard University Press. As of January 2015, the book had sold 1.5 million copies in French, English, German, Chinese and Spanish.
...
The central thesis of the book is that inequality is not an accident, but rather a feature of capitalism, and can only be reversed through state interventionism. The book thus argues that, unless capitalism is reformed, the very democratic order will be threatened.
...
The book argues that there was a trend towards higher inequality which was reversed between 1930 and 1975 due to some rather unique circumstances: The two World Wars, the Great Depression and a debt-fueled recession destroyed much wealth, particularly that owned by the elite. These events prompted governments to undertake steps towards redistributing income, especially in the post-World War II period. The fast economic growth of that time reduced the importance of inherited wealth.
The book argues that the world today is returning towards "patrimonial capitalism", in which much of the economy is dominated by inherited wealth: Their power is increasing, creating an oligarchy. Piketty cites novels by Honoré de Balzac, Jane Austen and Henry James to describe the rigid class structure based on accumulated capital that existed in England and France in the early 1800s.
Piketty predicts a world of low economic growth and dismisses the idea that bursts of technological advances will bring the growth back to the levels of the 20th century, arguing that we should not base ourselves on the "caprices of technology."
...
[Ravi: From criticism section of wiki]
One strand of critique faults Piketty for placing inequality at the center of analysis without any reflection on why it matters.
...
According to Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf, he merely assumes that inequality matters, but never explains why. He only demonstrates that it exists and how it worsens. Or as his colleague Clive Crook put it: "Aside from its other flaws, Capital in the 21st Century invites readers to believe not just that inequality is important, but that nothing else matters. This book wants you to worry about low growth in the coming decades not because that would mean a slower rise in living standards, but because it might [...] worsen inequality."
--- end wiki extracts ---
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Update on 13th Sept. 2015
A USA based correspondent wrote in an email response to the above (which he was OK with being publicly shared):
"Piketty's book came as a shock to many who thought that we had moved beyond societies where your parents' place in society determined your life. In the US in particular, people believed (and believe) that anyone can get to anywhere in society if they put their mind to it. The fact (yes, I think that Piketty's numbers and those of others on income distribution and inter-generational wealth transmission are correct) that society (especially the US society) is unequal and getting more unequal contradicts some of our most cherished myth. In my lifetime the US has changed from having more inter-generational mobility than England to less - and the English class system is still strong. I think it is sad.
It's hard for any country to isolate itself from that global trend."
[I thank Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
And here's a text book review by Krugman, over a year ago again, which I found to be not as easy as the video interview, but still an important review, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/may/08/thomas-piketty-new-gilded-age/ .
The book also has a wikipedia page. Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century:
Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a 2013 book by French economist Thomas Piketty. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century. It was initially published in French (as Le Capital au XXIe siècle) in August 2013; an English translation by Arthur Goldhammer followed in April 2014.
The book's central thesis is that when the rate of return on capital (r) is greater than the rate of economic growth (g) over the long term, the result is concentration of wealth, and this unequal distribution of wealth causes social and economic instability. Piketty proposes a global system of progressive wealth taxes to help reduce inequality and avoid the vast majority of wealth coming under the control of a tiny minority.
On May 18, 2014, the English edition reached number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List for best selling hardcover nonfiction and became the greatest sales success ever of academic publisher Harvard University Press. As of January 2015, the book had sold 1.5 million copies in French, English, German, Chinese and Spanish.
...
The central thesis of the book is that inequality is not an accident, but rather a feature of capitalism, and can only be reversed through state interventionism. The book thus argues that, unless capitalism is reformed, the very democratic order will be threatened.
...
The book argues that there was a trend towards higher inequality which was reversed between 1930 and 1975 due to some rather unique circumstances: The two World Wars, the Great Depression and a debt-fueled recession destroyed much wealth, particularly that owned by the elite. These events prompted governments to undertake steps towards redistributing income, especially in the post-World War II period. The fast economic growth of that time reduced the importance of inherited wealth.
The book argues that the world today is returning towards "patrimonial capitalism", in which much of the economy is dominated by inherited wealth: Their power is increasing, creating an oligarchy. Piketty cites novels by Honoré de Balzac, Jane Austen and Henry James to describe the rigid class structure based on accumulated capital that existed in England and France in the early 1800s.
Piketty predicts a world of low economic growth and dismisses the idea that bursts of technological advances will bring the growth back to the levels of the 20th century, arguing that we should not base ourselves on the "caprices of technology."
...
[Ravi: From criticism section of wiki]
One strand of critique faults Piketty for placing inequality at the center of analysis without any reflection on why it matters.
...
According to Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf, he merely assumes that inequality matters, but never explains why. He only demonstrates that it exists and how it worsens. Or as his colleague Clive Crook put it: "Aside from its other flaws, Capital in the 21st Century invites readers to believe not just that inequality is important, but that nothing else matters. This book wants you to worry about low growth in the coming decades not because that would mean a slower rise in living standards, but because it might [...] worsen inequality."
--- end wiki extracts ---
------------------------------------------------------
Update on 13th Sept. 2015
A USA based correspondent wrote in an email response to the above (which he was OK with being publicly shared):
"Piketty's book came as a shock to many who thought that we had moved beyond societies where your parents' place in society determined your life. In the US in particular, people believed (and believe) that anyone can get to anywhere in society if they put their mind to it. The fact (yes, I think that Piketty's numbers and those of others on income distribution and inter-generational wealth transmission are correct) that society (especially the US society) is unequal and getting more unequal contradicts some of our most cherished myth. In my lifetime the US has changed from having more inter-generational mobility than England to less - and the English class system is still strong. I think it is sad.
It's hard for any country to isolate itself from that global trend."
[I thank Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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