tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post5319064448120664225..comments2024-03-28T06:07:03.667-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: INTERIM REPORT ON PIKETTYRobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-64295652093880615602014-03-25T06:42:24.803-04:002014-03-25T06:42:24.803-04:00Prof. with my comment I didn't mean to suggest...Prof. with my comment I didn't mean to suggest you were being unfair or anything.<br /><br />I hope you didn't take it the wrong way; in any case my apologies.Magpiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-26189260739696114332014-03-24T04:38:47.241-04:002014-03-24T04:38:47.241-04:00Thanks for the comment. I am going to refrain fro...Thanks for the comment. I am going to refrain from writing more about Piketty until I finish the whole book [which may tgake me a while -- I am still only 200 pages into it.] I must say, I think it is exciting that so arcane a book, even if well written, should engender so much interest. Therer will be a great deal to talk about for some while.<br /><br />As they used to say at the old Jewish Catskill resorts -- I'm dancing as fast as I can.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-80612239850646580322014-03-24T01:18:54.827-04:002014-03-24T01:18:54.827-04:00Prof.
There is plenty to appreciate in Charles An...Prof.<br /><br />There is plenty to appreciate in Charles Andrews' review.<br /><br />However, before accepting his point of view in toto, I'd advice some care, as Piketty's book is long and Andrews may have overlooked some things. <br /><br />One of the things that caught my attention in Andrews' review is the preferential attention he gives to the period 1913-1950. <br /><br />In the section called "Analysis of 1913-1950" Andrews focuses on the period 1913-1950, which he says is Piketty's exceptional period:<br /><br />"And there is justified nostalgia today for the era after Piketty's exceptional period. In the 1950s and 1960s life got better for a majority of the working people in the United States, Britain, and western Europe. The peak of working-class progress was 1973 – after Piketty's focus and years before neoliberalism, financialization, and globalization. Since 1973, real median earnings in the U.S. have stagnated and fallen. That turning point is the fact that demands explanation and action."<br /><br />The period after 1950 and up to 1979 was characterized for having the lowest inequality; inequality, for instance, for whatever reason, nose-dived (with random peaks and valleys) since 1913, that's true. But even after 1950 inequality kept still falling, although much more slowly.<br /><br />(You can check in the WTID website. Choose Graphics -- right side -- and the website displays by default the top income shares, United States, 1913-2012: http://topincomes.g-mond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/#Graphic:)<br /><br />With or without reason, PostKeynesians attribute this fall in inequality to the establishment and expansion of the welfare state and activist fiscal policy.<br /><br />The other thing is that I am not sure Andrews takes into account the limitations in the data used: I believe there is no separate data to analyse lower deciles, whether one has "little interest in the inequality suffered around and below the median income" or one is very interested in it.<br /><br />I haven't reached the recommendations section yet, so I cannot say anything with certainty. However, I understand Piketty's recommendations are more towards taxation. In my opinion, this may have some direct temporary effect on inequality, but it's kind of disappointingly limited.Magpiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07528637318288802178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-75409876560190297242014-03-23T23:24:50.961-04:002014-03-23T23:24:50.961-04:00You may well already have seen it, but Krugman'...You may well already have seen it, but Krugman's column in Monday's NY Times develops one of Piketty's arguments. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/opinion/krugman-wealth-over-work.html?hp&rref=opinionJoseph Streeterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09063000313935445659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-64430471049164473542014-03-23T14:37:51.745-04:002014-03-23T14:37:51.745-04:00Thank you, Charles A for the link. When I finally...Thank you, Charles A for the link. When I finally manage to plow through the entire book, I shall write an extended discussion and will refer to that review.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-67203591415450680872014-03-23T10:29:38.262-04:002014-03-23T10:29:38.262-04:00It's definitely making a splash in Left-y poli...It's definitely making a splash in Left-y political economy circles. Many of the political theorists in my department are picking it up, too. Looking forward to your review!Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08963738283641120498noreply@blogger.com