April 30, 2014
WHY REBUT SOMEONE WHO'S PLAYING INTO YOUR HANDS?:
The Right's Piketty Problem (J. Bradford Delong, 4/29/14, Project Syndicate)
Piketty's argument is detailed and complicated. But five points seem particularly salient: [...]2. Time and chance inevitably lead to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a relatively small group: call them "the rich." [...]To be sure, everyone disagrees with 10-20% of Piketty's argument, and everyone is unsure about perhaps another 10-20%. But, in both cases, everyone has a different 10-20%. In other words, there is majority agreement that each piece of the book is roughly correct, which means that there is near-consensus that the overall argument of the book is, broadly, right.Unless Piketty's right-wing critics step up their game and actually make some valid points, that will be the default judgment on Piketty's book. No amount of Red-baiting or French-bashing will help.
As Tyler Cowen pointed out, Mr. Piketty has essentially made the case for Social Security privatization (and the entire Third Way, come to that), concentrating wealth in the universal group. Why would we try to discredit him?
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 30, 2014 6:27 PM
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