There’s a new book by French economist Thomas Piketty, called “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” that supposedly identifies the Achilles’ Heel of the market economy.
Piketty argues that the rate of return to capital is higher than the economy-wide growth rate and that this will lead to untenable inequality as the rich grab a larger and larger share of the pie.
The solution, he claims, is confiscatory tax rates.
I’m not impressed.
Garett Jones of George Mason University has a very good review that casts doubt on Piketty’s hypothesis, but I also think Margaret Thatcher pre-debunked (if I’m allowed to make up a word) Piketty in this classic video from the House of Commons.
Simply stated, if you care about those with lower incomes, your goal should be faster growth.
If the economy is more prosperous, that means a rising tide that will lift all boats.
Piketty’s class-warfare prescription…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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