“ Income from labor [in the United States] is about as unequally distributed as has ever been observed anywhere. Thomas Piketty
“ We know something about billionaire consumption, but it is hard to measure some of it. Some billionaires are consuming politicians, others consume reporters, and some consume academics... Thomas Piketty
“ The main force pushing toward reduction in inequality has always been the diffusion of knowledge and the diffusion of education. Thomas Piketty
“ Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. The past devours the future. Thomas Piketty
“ In North America, there is no nostalgia for the postwar period, quite simply because the Trente Glorieuses never existed there: per capita output grew at roughly the same rate of 1.5–2 percent per yea… Thomas Piketty
“ To be sure, it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of the intuitive knowledge that everyone acquires about contemporary wealth and income levels, even in the absence of any theoretical… Thomas Piketty
“ All told, over the period 1932-1980, nearly half a century, the top federal income tax rate in the United States averaged 81 percent. Thomas Piketty
“ They (economists) must set aside their contempt for other disciplines and their absurd claim to greater scientific legitimacy, despite the fact that they know almost nothing about anything. Thomas Piketty
“ Protectionism does not produce wealth, and free trade and economic openness are ultimately in everyone’s interest Thomas Piketty
“ Our democratic societies rest on a meritocratic worldview, or at any rate a meritocratic hope, by which I mean a belief in a society in which inequality is based more on merit and effort than on kinsh… Thomas Piketty
