Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty
Thomas Pikettyis a French economist who works on wealth and income inequality. He is a professorat the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, associate chair at the Paris School of Economics and Centennial professor at the London School of Economics new International Inequalities Institute...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth7 May 1971
CountryFrance
bottom destroy increase middle premise
My premise is not to tax to destroy the wealth of the wealthy; it's to increase the wealth of the bottom and the middle class.
capture democratic extreme harmful inequality lead mobility useless
You need some inequality to grow... but extreme inequality is not only useless but can be harmful to growth because it reduces mobility and can lead to political capture of our democratic institutions.
exist founded main market position stock
When you are an entrepreneur, you have founded your own firm, it is so easy to find that you exist - you are the main shareholder of your company; it is very easy to look at the stock market position of your company to know how rich you are.
becomes common gets
I think inequality is fine, as long as it is in the common interest. The problem is when it gets so extreme, when it becomes excessive.
apparatus closer instead methods models pragmatic pretending pushing scientific using
What I'm pushing for is an economic discipline that will be closer to other social sciences; in particular, we should be more pragmatic about the methods that we are using instead of pretending that we have our own scientific apparatus with very sophisticated mathematic models that distinguish us from sociologists and historians.
capital devours future itself output
Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. The past devours the future.
education inequality knowledge main pushing reduction toward
The main force pushing toward reduction in inequality has always been the diffusion of knowledge and the diffusion of education.
bad becomes gets high lead low tends time useless
When inequality gets too extreme, then it becomes useless for growth, and it can even become bad because it tends to lead to high perpetuation of inequality over time and low mobility.
domestic peaceful people social solutions tempting
I am afraid that if you don't find peaceful domestic solutions to our inequality and social problems, then it's always tempting to find other people responsible for our problems.
act capitalism common ensure forces market powerful producing wealth
Capitalism and market forces are very powerful in producing wealth and innovation. But we need to ensure that these forces act in the common interest.
asking net permission property states system transform united
The United States could transform its property tax system into a progressive tax on net worth without asking permission to the rest of the world.
education favor time
Yeah, I am in favor of migration. But I am also in favor of education. But at the same time, I am in favor of progressive taxation. I think we need all of this. I think we don't have to choose one.
maybe people war
I don't live in the Cold War. Some people maybe still live in the Cold War, but this is their problem, not mine.
argue based private
What I argue for is a progressive tax, a global tax, based on the taxation of private property.