tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post2777975073272028641..comments2024-03-28T22:33:29.066-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: THOMAS PIKETTY CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PART THREERobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-75190680510223535182014-03-31T17:37:56.000-04:002014-03-31T17:37:56.000-04:00Have a good safari holiday, I hope to have at leas...Have a good safari holiday, I hope to have at least started reading the Piketty book by the time you get back. <br /><br />Piketty also has some useful related material in his teaching notes for a course on the economics of inequality, <br /><br />http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/en/teaching/10-page-statique/17-ecoineg<br /><br />wallyverrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18358344785499490511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-55233109106485151412014-03-31T11:35:29.672-04:002014-03-31T11:35:29.672-04:00The decision about human capital is certainly an i...The decision about human capital is certainly an important one. I think it is correct, but that must obviously be argued. I am struggling to keep my discussion within manageable bounds and to finish before I leave tomorrow, but when I get back, I would be delighted to launch a discussion on my blog of this and other matters [within the narrow cofines of my competence, of course!]Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-31403256106022149522014-03-31T10:26:13.734-04:002014-03-31T10:26:13.734-04:00Two short points.
The decision to ignore human ca...Two short points.<br /><br />The decision to ignore human capital has potentially great significance. The British economist A.B. Atkinson recommended a decade ago that the UK statistics office should estimate human capital. The office attempted this and, while certainly not precise, came up with a human capital figure of more than twice the value of UK tangible assets (buildings, machinery, vehicles). cf ONS Website. Atkinson is not a Chicago-style economist, indeed he is a senior collaborator of Piketty in a related research project on income inequality.<br /><br />George Stigler, who was a Chicago economist, argued that every accumulating fortune eventually is eroded by " a stupid or profligate heir" or "an unstable environment". (Theory of Price, 4th ed , p304). Does Piketty look at the first aspect, as he does the second? Btw, Stigler has p302 a related discussion of the potential interaction of inheritance and family investment in human capital.<br /><br />Thanks for the notes so far, clearly an extremely important book.<br /><br /><br />wallyverrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18358344785499490511noreply@blogger.com