Thomas Piketty on Wealth, Income and Inequality

The Economic Policy Institute and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth host a presentation by Thomas Piketty—economist from the Paris School of Economics and ground-breaking researcher on income inequality—of the findings in his new book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. His presentation is followed by a panel discussion moderated by Heather Boushey, Executive Director and Chief Economist of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, with Josh Bivens, Research and Policy Director of the Economic Policy Institute, Robert M. Solow, Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Betsey Stevenson, Member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, serving as discussants.

Piketty examines data from more than twenty countries spanning in some cases as far back as the 18th century to assess the dynamics of income and wealth distribution, with a particular focus on the role of capital ownership as a driver of long-run trends in income inequality. He argues that when the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of economic growth, as it has for most of history, then rising income inequality becomes inevitable. He says that if this rising inequality is allowed to continue unchecked, the results could be deep political and social disruption.

While Piketty notes that inequality has different dimensions across countries, he concludes with a recommendation: significantly increase the progressivity of both income and wealth taxation. Given the extraordinarily globalized market for capital, he further argues that the reach of such taxes must be global as well.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century, already a best seller, is an invaluable contribution to how we understand inequality and its possible consequences.

The book, which has already focused the attention of economists like no other work in recent decades, will be available for purchase at the event. We very much hope you can join us. This event is free to the public.

[nitfitnit]

Solow is great-- the man is nearly 90 and still going strong!

[Johnconno]

Zee qualite of sound c'est magnifique! Eet eez merely eez outrageous accent!

[petertalbaki]

Indeed that is great attainment on the subject God Bless you..

[emotionalinvalid]

i read and heard a couple economists and others that if we just stopped wasting food and distributing it relatively equally, everyone on earth would be obese.  if population explosion is part of the problem, then start with the top 0.5% in wealth.

[emotionalinvalid]

i like economists like Richard Wolff who gives us the "dismal science" in every day language(not talking about his accent) and humor. but i just started listening maybe it gets better.

[ArtsAlign]

In 1999, the 447 richest people's net worth was equal to 50% of the entire planet's annual income. In 2013 it has come down to the 67 richest. Noblesse oblige no longer applies in modern society, the belief that with tremendous wealth comes social responsibility. As this is no longer the case, we are now committing to a future of insanity unless we move in a new, healthy direction.

"If nothing can be more efficient, then how do you explain poverty, environmental disruptions, pollution, climate change, criminality, waste production, class division, famine, energy crisis, wars and so on? What I see is an incredible inefficient waste machine, profoundly unsustainable, and completely disconnected from any planetary life support system. Employment, growth, GDP and cyclical consumption are needed to sustain this crazy economy, at the root of all the bad consequences we are facing."

Capitalism, it would appear, in its increasing obstruction of the political process in addition to all of the above, has become the #1 global threat socially and planetarily.

[Sweetweets]

The audio stinks.  The left channel is nearly mute, the S/N ratio is annoyingly low, and the audio goes dead intermittently.  Whaddya want from a non-profit?  There's probably no money left for a good recording after Piketty's first-class tickets from Paris.

[numberSchumacherfan]

Truly terrible audio... this has to improved. The 1% surely did not fund the creation of this video.

[bewaretheanglos]

Piketty's call for more growth  leads to a faster destruction of the environment (the green problem) so he thinks that's less important than reducing class warfare (the red problem).  His interesting science, therefore, includes his view about values.  

[FletchforFreedom]

Nothing like a guy whose "data" doesn't survive the slightest actual scrutiny pontificating for an organization that lost any vestige of credibility years ago...