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Waarom iedereen Piketty moet lezen ?!
Robert Went (WRR) – Docentendag – 6 februari, 2015
Hoe ongelijk is Nederland? Wetenschappelijke Raad voor Regeringsbeleid
Waarom we allemaal Piketty moeten lezen ?!
Robert Went (WRR) – Docentendag – 6 februari, 2015
15 %
2645.000
Een paar facts and figures
42+
The ‘Justin Bieber of economics’
In 32 languages (or more ?)
‘Wave’ has reached Asia (Korea)
Changed the world a little bit:
“Pre-Piketty period and post-Piketty times”
[NB: He was/is not alone…]
3 Reasons to read the book
1. Piketty has changed our views and
debates on inequality, for ever
- New data (not surveys !)
- Assets (Capital, vermogen), not “just” income inequality
- Long historical views and tendencies
2. Economists (+ other social scientists)
have let us down on inequality
Famous in economic history- The big Trade-Off (Okun)- Kuznets curves
- But now attention > for consequences: growth (IMF, OECD….) + Wilkinson (WRR)
Kuznets would have been surprised (Robert Fogel NBER 2013)
3. Piketty wants - and practices -
pluralism in economics
- Real-life problems
- More history (re Summers)
-Many theories and criticism
-It works in practice, but in theory ?
Is Piketty tight ?
Is Piketty right ?My take – but please READ it yourself !
Wrong question (in 700 words ?)
He has a lot right, and many things we don’t know yet
But he has – strong argument – history on his side (+ data no longer – FT – challenged)
R > G … maybe, time will tell. “According to standard model ?”
And most importantly: Piketty has put questions on the agenda that will NOT disappear
Thank you !
Much more on @went1955
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