We Don't Talk Enough About (WDTEA)

Wealth inequality and how it has been increasing and increasing since the 1970/80s

What #Piketty fails to realize is that the true source of wealth inequality lies in the social relations of capitalist production. Through driving down workers' wages, the #bourgeoisie has maintained its supremacy over labor—stripping away their bargaining power in a drive towards infinite accumulation.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thecommunard/p/a-marxist-critique-of-capital-in?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=n0nwo

Thomas Piketty livre une lecture éclairante de la politique états-unienne économique actuelle, erratique certes mais explicable par le contexte mondial actuel.

Thomas Piketty : « La réalité est que les Etats-Unis sont en train de perdre le contrôle du monde »

https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2025/04/12/thomas-piketty-la-realite-est-que-les-etats-unis-sont-en-train-de-perdre-le-controle-du-monde_6594635_3232.html

(via @Pr_Logos )

#Piketty Si l'Europe continue de s’allier aux Etats-Unis (…) alors les BRICS [Brésil, Russie, Inde, Chine et Afrique du Sud] bâtiront inévitablement une architecture internationale parallèle, sous la houlette de la Chine et de la Russie https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2025/04/12/thomas-piketty-la-realite-est-que-les-etats-unis-sont-en-train-de-perdre-le-controle-du-monde_6594635_3232.html

"The Dignity Deficit: Inequality, Work, & Recognition

Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel explore how inequality isn’t just about wealth—it’s about dignity. They discuss how economic structures fail to value workers without elite credentials and propose solutions that go beyond redistribution."

Taxing the rich, with progressive taxation 80-90%, actually works very well, says Thomas Piketty

https://youtu.be/bMg-1raozPA
#piketty #sandel #economy #inequality #taxtherich #neweconomicthinking #dignity

Schlagabtausch der Denker

Die Reichen be­steu­ern oder mehr Bildung für alle: Der Ökonom Thomas #Piketty und der Phi­lo­soph Michael J. #Sandel dis­ku­tie­ren Gleich­heits- und #Gerechtigkeitsfragen. Ihnen lesend zu folgen ist ein Gewinn – wenn auch manche Ideen ir­ri­tie­ren

Von #MichaelWolf

https://www.taz.de/!6072603

If this link works, it show a very interesting recent leap in the top decile wealth ratio for a curiously currently topical otherwise unmentioned country-of-origin and an axis of friends. Calls to mind what #piketty warned about Small Country Syndrome.

https://wid.world/share/#0/countriestimeseries/sptinc_p90p100_z/US;FR;DE;CN;ZA;GB;WO/last/eu/k/p/yearly/s/false/24.722500000000004/80/curve/false/country

Uit de #Volkskrant recensie van "Equality: What It Means and Why It Matters" (Piketty & Sandel).

"... waar #Piketty vooral de imperfecties van de #meritocratie benadrukt – bijvoorbeeld dat kinderen van arme en rijke ouders helemaal geen gelijke onderwijskansen hebben –waarschuwt #Sandel voor de duistere kanten van een perfecte meritocratie, waarin de hoogmoed van de winnaars al helemaal niet te harden zou zijn."

https://www.volkskrant.nl/boeken/thomas-piketty-en-michael-sandel-duiden-de-opkomst-van-autoritair-rechts-die-heeft-links-aan-zichzelf-te-wijten~b72ea1af/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

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This is vital evidence: 'trickle down economics' doesn't work. If we want common people to be wealthier we need to tax the rich and pay everyone else better.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/
#economics #democracy #equality #equity #piketty #D66 #PvdA #Volt #D66

In the face of Trumpism, Europe must, first and foremost, remain true to itself. [...]Rather than devoting its resources to an endless arms race [...]Europe must base its influence on law and justice. [...] Above all, Europe must heed the calls from the Global South for economic, fiscal and climate justice. It must [...] definitively overtake the US in terms of training and productivity, just as it has already done in terms of health and life expectancy.

https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty/2025/02/18/trump-national-capitalism-at-bay/
#piketty #uspol

#piketty

Trump, le national-capitalisme aux abois https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty/2025/02/18/trump-le-national-capitalisme-aux-abois/

This part still escapes me?

"....the astronomical dollar amounts reflect the very high prices imposed on American consumers. It’s akin to analyzing wage trends without taking inflation into account. When measured in terms of purchasing power parity, the reality is very different: the productivity gap with Europe disappears entirely."

https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty/2025/02/18/trump-national-capitalism-at-bay/

«le rêve de prospérité promis par le national-capitalisme finit toujours par décevoir les attentes populaires, car il repose en réalité sur des hiérarchies sociales exacerbées et une concentration toujours plus forte des richesses» https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2025/02/15/thomas-piketty-le-national-capitalisme-trumpiste-aime-etaler-sa-force-mais-il-est-en-realite-fragile-et-aux-abois_6547427_3232.html #Piketty

#Piketty Les Etats-Unis, qui suivent depuis Reagan une mauvaise politique, sont sur le point de perdre le contrôle du monde. Le raidissement nationaliste en cours va aggraver ce déclin et finira par décevoir les attentes populaires. https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2025/02/15/thomas-piketty-le-national-capitalisme-trumpiste-aime-etaler-sa-force-mais-il-est-en-realite-fragile-et-aux-abois_6547427_3232.html

"le national-capitalisme trumpiste aime étaler sa force, mais il est, en réalité, fragile et aux abois"
Thomas #Piketty

https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2025/02/15/thomas-piketty-le-national-capitalisme-trumpiste-aime-etaler-sa-force-mais-il-est-en-realite-fragile-et-aux-abois_6547427_3232.html

I'm reading Thomas Piketty's 'Brief History of Equality' at the moment - highly recommended.

If you're on the left it probably won't change your basic oveview of economic history, but it will equip you with a hell of a lot more carefully documented evidence to back your views.

So far, I'd pick out a couple of fascinating points.

First, the processes of enclosure and colonisation at the inception of capitalism were not just forced land-grabs, but ideological changes in the meaning of 'ownership'. Ownership is a set of rights over land, things - and people - that are defined in convention, law, etc - and that change over time. Enclosure wasn't just putting up fences on land previously owned - it was a change in the meaning of ownership, from the rights and obligations of feudalism to the 'absolute title' (lack of obligations) of capitalism. And crucially, Piketty points out, the struggle over this understanding of ownership - what rights and obligations are socially legitimate - continues, for example in limitations on landlords' power to set rent, evict, etc...

A second fascinating point relates to the connection between European dominance and capitalism. It's often assumed that although slavery and colonialism were necessary to fund the investment behind the industrial revolution, giving Europe its head start and hence dominant position, the parallel development of capitalism also contributed to this. However, applying Adam Smith's contemporary description of an effective capitalist economy, Piketty finds that in fact both Chinese and Ottoman societies were more 'capitalist' at the inception of the industrial revolution. So what really made the difference? Centuries of European wars - more command-and-control establishments, bigger navies, better weaponry, etc - in short: force, and the ability/willingness of Europeans to use it. Or to put that another way - Adam Smith glossed over the role of force in making capitalism work.