There is a degree of improvisation in Francois Hollande's economic policy that is appalling. Thomas Piketty More Quotes by Thomas Piketty More Quotes From Thomas Piketty The principal mechanism for convergence at the international as well as the domestic level is the diffusion of knowledge. Thomas Piketty diffusionwellslevels I am not political. It is not my job. But I would be happy if politicians could read my work and draw some conclusions from it. Thomas Piketty politicalwould-bejobs The U.S. is the country that invented progressive taxation of income and of inherited wealth in the 1910s and 20s. Thomas Piketty progressive-taxationincomecountry I loved American universities. In many ways, they are better organized - certainly than French universities. Thomas Piketty american-universitiesuniversityway Without precisely defined sources, methods, and concepts, it is possible to see absolutely everything and its opposite. Thomas Piketty methodsourceopposites It's not Utopian to believe that we can create a global registry of financial assets so we know who owns what in different countries. Thomas Piketty differentbelievecountry Democracy will never be supplanted by a republic of experts—and that is a very good thing. Thomas Piketty republicdemocracyexperts Das Kapital, I think, is very difficult to read, and for me, it was not very influential. Thomas Piketty influentialdifficultthinking We know too little about global wealth dynamics, so we need international transmission of bank information. Thomas Piketty dynamicslittlesneeds I refuse this nomination because I don't think it's up to a government to say who is honorable, they would do better to focus on reviving growth in France and Europe. Thomas Piketty people Capitalism and market forces are very powerful in producing wealth and innovation. But we need to ensure that these forces act in the common interest. Thomas Piketty capitalismwealthinnovationpowerful I am afraid that if you don't find peaceful domestic solutions to our inequality and social problems, then it's always tempting to find other people responsible for our problems. Thomas Piketty i-amproblemsyoupeople What I argue for is a progressive tax, a global tax, based on the taxation of private property. Thomas Piketty globaltaxpropertyprogressive My premise is not to tax to destroy the wealth of the wealthy; it's to increase the wealth of the bottom and the middle class. Thomas Piketty destroymiddle-classwealthclass The main force pushing toward reduction in inequality has always been the diffusion of knowledge and the diffusion of education. Thomas Piketty alwaysinequalityeducationknowledge You need some inequality to grow... but extreme inequality is not only useless but can be harmful to growth because it reduces mobility and can lead to political capture of our democratic institutions. Thomas Piketty growyougrowthpolitical Economists should be modest and be aware that they are part of the broader social science community. We need to be pragmatic about the methods we use. When we need to do history, we should do history. When we need to study political science, we should study political science. Thomas Piketty politicalcommunitysciencehistory What I'm pushing for is an economic discipline that will be closer to other social sciences; in particular, we should be more pragmatic about the methods that we are using instead of pretending that we have our own scientific apparatus with very sophisticated mathematic models that distinguish us from sociologists and historians. Thomas Piketty ownwillpretendingdiscipline Private property and the market system are good not only to promote innovation and to promote growth; private property and the market system are good for our personal freedom. Thomas Piketty goodinnovationgrowthfreedom When inequality gets too extreme, then it becomes useless for growth, and it can even become bad because it tends to lead to high perpetuation of inequality over time and low mobility. Thomas Piketty badinequalitygrowthtime
