Thomas Piketty, Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz: The Genius of Economics

Piketty, arguably the world’s leading expert on income and wealth inequality, does more than document the growing concentration of income in the hands of a small economic elite. He also makes a powerful case that we’re on the way back to ‘patrimonial capitalism,’ in which the commanding heights of the economy are dominated not just by wealth, but also by inherited wealth, in which birth matters more than effort and talent,” wrote Paul Krugman in The New York Times. Krugman and his fellow Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz (author of The Great Divide) join Piketty to discuss the genius of economics.

[davidmagritta]

J'arrive à comprendre l'anglais grâce à Piketty
Je suis devenu bilingue !
Merci Thomas !

[nightoftheworld]

9:18 _’”This was not my fault. You know I was at the end of Luxembourg, and you know I had to find a development strategy for my country. There was deindustrialization, so I had to find something else and my idea was to become a tax haven basically.’_ And you know this was amazing you know because every country in Europe has a problem with deindustrialization and so if we all just steal the tax base of each other we are not going to go very far.“

[SaaErDetNok]

I am not an economist, and though I do understand some basic theoretical elements of the field, I wouldn't want to proclaim myself an "independent authority" - but, when reading through comments on this, and most any other lecture/presentation/Q&A of any acclaimed economist (or, indeed, any social or political science person), I am forced to evaluate the plausibility of "the information and analysis presented by the acclaimed economist" vs "the statement made by some (to me) unknown commentator, who claims that the experts are complete idiots, and that the reality of the matter is something entirely different, and most often very simple".
I dunno - this is very bizarre to me. When I grew up I learned two things from interacting with "my elders": 1) any authority may be mistaken, or may have misunderstood, misinterpreted or mis-conceptualised something 2) an intelligent person, who has spent decades in serious study, work and/or research of a field - even in his/her mistakes - has more insight, than someone who hasn't.
I would have thought that was a fairly universal human experience, you know, beyond the 18th year of life. How does one sustain this other notion? It seems to me, that any argument that could account for the amount of data, of analysis, of study, of just plain *experience* being *all bullshit*, would be (basically) an argument for general agnosis - not an argument that someone *else* had found the *real truth* in a bowl of cereal.
But I probably am too much of an idiot to *get it* - drinking too much cool-aid, part of the problem and all that.

[whatsoeverwhatever]

Mr. Piketty opened my eyes from faults and destruction from bubbles and neoclassic apprach in economics Thank you!

[AWildBard]

I like the fact that they said they don't believe in genius.
We are too quick to elevate people above ourselves.
That said, I love to listen to these guys. We all have a lot to learn, I think.

[koroglurustem]

Let me first apologize that my English sounds like French 😂

[nthperson]

One of the few economists who not only forecasted the 2008 crisis but explained exactly what was happening was University of California professor Mason Gaffney. A paper by him  on the subject appears in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Economics and Sociology. What Professor Gaffney has been writing about for sixty years is the power of property markets as THE most important driver of our boom-to-bust economic system. Because of our system of property law and taxation, our property markets are unstable and dominated by speculation and hoarding -- by rent-seeking behavior that is rewarded by a very low effective rate of taxation on the potential rental value of land and land-like assets. Every eighteen years the result is an asset bubble. How severe and widespread  the crash is that occurs is determined by related factors, such as the cheapness and access to credit. The 2008 crash was one of the most severe because of the long  period of deregulation of the financial sector that resulted in a dramatic concentration of financial reserves in the hands of fewer and fewer financial  institutions. The straw that broke the camel's bank was the collusion by Wall Street firms, the banks and mortgage brokers who built the private label MBS market with loans characterized by widespread fraud and predatory conditions.

[SohamSinha]

Such a good hosting. Really appreciate the style, command and control.

[kenthomas]

Bailing out the banksters for gambling with investors money cannot help stabilize the economy. Society does not need Goldman Sachs, IGA, etc. The people's money needs to be invested in industry---not bailing out rich criminals who got in over their heads.

[silvioapires]

Who is this presenter?! She is great!!!😃

[sabinkstudio]

Paul: "Beware, this is not a joke"
Audience: "laughs"
Me: :/

[jimjackson]

My respect for Paul Krugman took a giant leap when he said he wasn’t sure he wasn’t a fraud.

[vinodpractical]

The lady just asked the right questions and let the experts speak. That was a fine lesson in engaging people in conversation.

[spyrosspyratos]

It is mentioned that the minimum wage nowadays (in real terms) is less than 50 years ago which is a striking fact. But it becomes horror when you provide what was the average housing price or monthly rent 50 years ago compared to now.

[nthperson]

Of the three, Joseph Stiglitz has come closest to developing a clear understanding of the cause of economic cycles of boom and bust. The reason is that he has come to challenge the neoclassical assertions that price clears all markets. This is largely true of the markets for labor and capital goods (less so for credit). But, it is not true at all for nature (i.e., for the factor of production "land"). What Stiglitz has come to understand is that the undertaxation of rents (which are unearned to individuals and private entities) leads to hoarding and speculation-driven markets for: (a) locations in our towns and cities; (b) agricultural lands; (c) natural resource-laden lands; (d) the broadcast spectrum; (e) resources taken from the seas and oceans; (f) paths allocated around the earth for satellites; (g) take-off and landing slots at airports; and (h) other aspects of nature that have a zero cost of production in terms of labor and capital goods.

[miguelito]

Actually, both Stiglitz and Krugman predicted the bursting of the real estate bubble. They didn't predict the date of the 2008 crash specifically but both warned everyone who would listen that because of the deregulation of the banking industry through the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, the derivative markets in real estate were out of control and vulnerable to cause a crash with widespread implications. They were basically right. Market fundamentalism is insane public policy that not only ensures another crash, but is creating the conditions for deflation and ever-growing inequality which can only result--in the long term--in social instability.

[kathleenmckeon]

Loved the book and this discussion thank you.  1 thing:  Think the legislative process is broken????  Our representatives had to sign a Non-Disclosure in order to read the secret TPP: That is beyond broken.  Fast track Authority: Our representatives will have 85 seconds on the floor to represent us.  We think were broken now?  We have not even begun to see what broken looks like.

[JamieTheTroll]

Heroes <3 Piketty is one of my professors :)

[bonconfidant]

This channel has some real gems; never came across it before. And the host/moderator is also new to me. She's like a sleeper agent. At first she seemed a bit silly and lightweight, and being incredibly cute only reinforces the stereotype (for an old-school guy like me at least) but then, listening all the way through, I realized she's quite incisive and is expert at keeping her questions brief and to the point - a skill not to be undervalued in our talk-centric modern media universe. As the geniuses rolled up comment after comment detailing the depressing state of most of our world, her humorous interjections were just what the doctor ordered. :) I could not find her on other videos in the channel, so I wonder if she is still doing this sort of work today (2022).

[PiratesRock]

15:34

Paul Krugman predicting the future/another recession. Cheers from 2020 folks!