Wednesday, May 14, 2014

INEQUALITY - Economics Book "Capital" Making a Big Splash

"Why do the rich get richer?  French economist Piketty takes on inequality in ‘Capital’" (Part-1) PBS NewsHour 5/12/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Questions about the scope and causes of income inequality have resonated loudly in the U.S. in recent years.  Now a new economics book about these issues is making a big, and surprising, splash of its own among experts and the public.

We’re going to spend the next couple of nights looking at it, and the debate around it.

Tonight, our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, has a look at what’s in the book that’s capturing so much attention.  It’s part of his ongoing reporting Making Sense of financial news.

PAUL SOLMAN (NewsHour):  Perhaps the most unlikely bestseller in America; the English translation of French economist Thomas Piketty’s 577-page tome, “Capital.”

His recent U.S. press tour was likened to Beatlemania, with standing-room-only events.  Nobel laureates on stage with him piled on the praise…

JOSEPH STIGLITZ, Columbia University:  This is — it’s a fantastic book.

PAUL SOLMAN:  … especially ones tilting left who share concern for the global trend the 42-year-old Parisian has definitively documented: growing economic inequality.



"Debating Piketty’s theory on how wealth begets wealth, widens the economic gap" (Part-2) PBS NewsHour 5/13/2014

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In "Capital," French economist Thomas Piketty explores how wealth and the income derived from it magnifies the problems of inequality.  Gwen Ifill gets debate on his data and conclusions from Heather Boushey of Washington Center for Equitable Growth and Kevin Hassett of American Enterprise Institute.

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