Thomas Piketty

economists scientific method excuse vacuity content nonsense

"For far too long economists have sought to define themselves in terms of their supposedly scientific methods. In fact, those methods rely on an immoderate use of mathematical models, which are frequently no more than an excuse for occupying the terrain and masking the vacuity of the content."

― Thomas Piketty

economists understand outsider incomrehensible nonsense

"Economists have put themselves in a position where what they are doing is supposed to be impossible to understand for outsiders, so they dont even talk - sometimes not even with their girlfriend or boyfriend or friends - about what they are doing."

― Thomas Piketty

political upheave fiscal revolution

"At the heart of every major political upheaval lies a fiscal revolution."

― Thomas Piketty

economics mathematicsideology social science

"The discipline of economics has yet to get over its childish passion for mathematics and for purely theoretical and often highly ideological speculation, at the expense of historical research and collaboration with the other social sciences."

― Thomas Piketty

hypocrisy economical financial elite interest

"No hypocrisy is too great when economic and financial elites are obliged to defend their interest."

― Thomas Piketty

inequality extreme growth

"When inequality gets to an extreme, it is completely useless for growth."

― Thomas Piketty

wealth growth innovation inequality

"It's important to realize that innovation and growth in itself are not sufficient to moderate inequality of wealth."

― Thomas Piketty

capitalism market democracy

We want capitalism and market forces to be the slave of democracy rather than the opposite."

― Thomas Piketty

wealth concentrate society unaware

"Wealth is so concentrated that a large segment of society is virtually unaware of its existence."

― Thomas Piketty

capital growth inequality

"When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did in the nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based."

― Thomas Piketty

human society health education value purpose civilization

“In all human societies, health and education have an intrinsic value: the ability to enjoy years of good health, like the ability to acquire knowledge and culture, is one of the fundamental purposes of civilization.”

― Thomas Piketty

distribution wealth important economists sociologists philosophe

“Indeed, the distribution of wealth is too important an issue to be left to economists, sociologists, historians, and philosophers.”

― Thomas Piketty

wealth distribution history politics

“The history of the distribution of wealth has always been deeply political, and it cannot be reduced to purely economic mechanisms.”

― Thomas Piketty

USA America egilitarian promise brutal inequality race

“United States... on the one hand this is a country of egalitarian promise, a land of opportunity for millions of immigrants of modest background; on the other hand it is a land of extremely brutal inequality, especially in relation to race.”

― Thomas Piketty

class icome society scientific enquiry

“As long as the incomes of the various classes of contemporary society remain beyond the reach of scientific inquiry, there can be no hope of producing a useful economic and social history.”

― Thomas Piketty

political upheaval fiscal revolution

“At the heart of every major political upheaval lies a fiscal revolution.”

― Thomas Piketty

equality diffusion knowledge skill

“Over a long period of time, the main force in favor of greater equality has been the diffusion of knowledge and skills.”

― Thomas Piketty

return capital growth output incomeinequality society unsustaina

“When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did in the nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based.”

― Thomas Piketty