*Capital and Ideology*, by Thomas Piketty

Marginal Revolution ^ | December 30, 2019 | Tyler Cowen

[karpov]

This book is more than 1000 pp., here are my impressions:

1. About 600 pp. of this book is a carefully done history of the accumulation and sometimes dissipation of wealth and property. You can evaluate that material without reference to any particular set of political views.

2. At some point the book veers into partisan issues such as the wealth tax. Many of those parts remain interesting, but it also becomes clear that Piketty is “out to lunch,” to wit (p.591):

To return to the Soviet attitude toward poverty, it is important to try to understand why the government took such a radical stance against all forms of private ownership of the means of production, no matter how small. Criminalizing carters and food peddlers to the point of incarcerating them may seem absurd, but there was a certain logic to the policy. Most important was the fear of not knowing where to stop. If one began by authorizing private ownership of small businesses, would one be able to set limits?

I can think of a less naive explanation of Soviet attitudes toward the private sector. Piketty also calls for “participatory socialism” (p.592), a dubious doctrine not to be confused with say Nordic social democracy. For instance, Sweden (among other countries) seems to have fairly extreme wealth inequality.

3. The sentence “Real wages are much higher in America than in Western Europe” does not come easily to his pen. Nor does “The United States is a remarkably successful innovator, let’s see what we can learn from that.” Or even “Raising wages is more important than merely limiting inequality.” Those seems to be banished thoughts in the Piketty intellectual universe.

4. The sections on Soviet and socialist experience can only be called “delusional.”

[karpov]

French socialist Piketty, co-author of bestseller "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" (2017), inspires the economic policies of the Democratic party, for example with his wealth tax.

[Jim W N]

See “Capitalism and Freedom” by Milton Friedman.

https://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Freedom-Anniversary-Milton-Friedman/dp/0226264211

The definitive book on the vibrancy of the Free Market Economy and the consistently miserable failures of Socialism which needs to STAY on the asheap of history.

My complaint is that the Right and Patriots should not use the Marxist term “Capitalism” to describe what is REALLY the Free Market Economy. The Free Market CREATES wealth and capital. The market free from government interference is freedom in action.

[Fungi]

Reminds me of Tragedy and Hope by Quigley. Started it and never finished, too intimidating. Still sitting on my bookshelf, staring at me.

[griswold3]

Anyone ever consider the manner of Force the Democratic Socialist would apply since Millions will not comply?

[PGR88]

Congratulations on getting through 1000 pages of overwrought, ideological, illogical quicksand.