Today we are going with an economics article. Because we have more or less money in our bank accounts, we appreciate more or less the system in which we are immersed … in the end the economy is one of the great magnitudes in which our world is measured.
And today we talk to you about Thomas Piketty, one of the great voices in this field whose books are opening the eyes of thousands of people on how the system works. Does it sound broad? Can be. That is why we bring you this article about Piketty and his reflections on inequality and what can be done to combat it. And yes, his new book, Capital and ideology, It should be on your reading list by 2020. We give you some reasons!
A book written based on exclusive sources
After the success of his previous book, The capital in the 20th century, an essay that sold more than 2.5 million copies around the world, Thomas Piketty became the most well-known, recognized and most profusely cited economist in the profession.
The success of this book opened the doors to fiscal and historical sources from countries whose governments had kept hidden to date, such as Brazil, India, South Africa, Tunisia, Lebanon, Ivory Coast, Korea, Taiwan, Poland, Hungary, China and Russia Having these new data allowed him to expand the history of the inequality initiated in his previous book and provide it with a greater historical perspective, thereby expanding its course of action.
In this sense, his new work, which is entitled Capital and Ideology and that Deusto publishes in its Spanish edition, it can be read as a second part of the previous one or, as the author suggests, as an extension of the first.
In this new installment – and thanks to the new data and statistical sources mentioned – Professor Piketty concludes that inequality is a social choice, the result of ideology, political programs and ideological and electoral options present in The different moments of the story. It is not an economic or technological issue, but ideological and political. To illustrate, it exposes how inequality has been accepted or tolerated in a very different way in the different historical stages, both in the past and in our modern societies. And, before that, it raises a series of questions, such as: what is the degree of inequality we want? Do we want more inequality? Less? And, in case we advocate reducing it, in what way and with what tools?
Reasons to combat inequality
In his opinion, inequality is one of the great foci of conflict today and its growth is the fuel that fuels the growing and widespread conflicts and social protests around the world.
Likewise, and in his opinion, if we do not find democratic and peaceful solutions to reduce inequalities, the door opens to xenophobic and nationalist political movements that take advantage of this malaise to offer solutions based on hatred of immigrants and hatred of other countries or their communities neighbors In this regard and in regard to our country, he is suspicious of the independence process in Catalonia, which he says is surprised by the support he receives from progressive parties, since “Catalan nationalism is much more pronounced among the categories social more favored than among the most modest ”.
Beyond capitalism? Piketty's proposals
In his new book, likewise, Piketty is convinced that it is possible to overcome capitalism with a fair society based on participatory socialism and social federalism and for this purpose it proposes a series of measures that, far from being thought of as a road map, are presented with the objective of focusing and encouraging debate. How?
His proposals for debate are three, two related to governance and one last of a fiscal nature.
According to the governance, believes that current supranational institutions, such as the European Union, do not implement the necessary policies to deal with the consequences of globalization, which is both a source of wealth and inequality.
His second proposal is located in the Business field, in which he advocates business co-management. In his opinion, the workers of the companies must be an active part in the decision-making process and for this they must reformulate the corporate governance bodies, in the image and likeness of the Nordic models, which although they can be a good reference and example to continue, they can and should be improved.
The third of his proposals is perhaps the most controversial and the one that provokes major debates. Refers to the taxation and it can be summed up in three main ideas: first, suppress indirect taxation, except in those cases such as environmental taxation. Secondly, to introduce a progressive income tax that includes not only income from work, but all the income from capital, including real estate, and, above all, financial income. And, as a third major proposal, he proposes to completely rethink the estate tax and inheritance and donation taxes, establishing a mechanism for universal inheritance in order for capital to circulate, so that it is not always in the same hands, since in his opinion the concentration of capital is equivalent to concentration of power, and consequently, to an increase in inequality.
Your new job Capital and Ideology – with its approximately 1200 pages – it represents another great peak in the economic bibliography and is called to become one of the fundamental books in the study of inequality, while consolidating Piketty as one of the most significant voices of economic science. That's why we believe it can't be missing in your reading list for 2020. 😉