MESOP : PIKETTY’S PROBLEM – JOIN DEBATE

MESOP : PIKETTY’S PROBLEM – JOIN DEBATE

The English-language publication of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” has sparked widespread debate over the causes and consequences of rising inequality. Is Piketty’s analysis mere fodder for professional economists, or will it move policymakers to act?

 

Inequality Disaster Prevention

Robert J. Shiller: “Thomas Piketty’s impressive book has brought considerable attention to the problem of rising economic inequality. But it is not strong on solutions.”

Piketty and the Zeitgeist

Dani Rodrik: “Piketty warns us not to be fooled by the apparent stability and prosperity that was the common experience of the advanced economies during a few decades in the second half of the twentieth century.”

Where Is the Inequality Problem?

Kenneth Rogoff: “Though Piketty is right that returns to capital have increased in the last few decades, he is too dismissive of the wide-ranging debate among economists concerning the causes.”

The Right’s Piketty Problem

J. Bradford DeLong: “The extraordinary thing about the conservative criticism of Piketty’s book is how much of it has been devoted to a furious denunciation of its author’s analytical abilities, motivation, and even nationality.”