Piketty on Inequality

Theoretically and empirically the case that r-g is a major determinant of inequality or even top inequality is weak.
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Not clear yet if wealth inequality has risen in U.S: different data sources give different answers. Premature to identify cause of non-fact!

There are certainly a host of other factors related to technical change, other government policies and globalization.

Many other factors affect inequality including technological change, globalization, increasing returns to education, and others.

MAYBE IN THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW IT IS HIGH INCOMES THAT IS INCREASING WEALTH INEQUALITY.

Don't find r-g a partiularly useful summary of anything (doesn't really capture role of technology, training, tax policy)

lower taxes on K surely play a role. i disagree based on "most powerful" phrase. more research is necessary

A glance at the biographies of the truly rich shows most came from upper middle class families. Good luck and some skill produced the wealth

I would imagine there are many factors: labor-saving technology, globalization,the decline of unions,lower tax rates.

Argument has poor theory & negligible empirics. Read pp7-9 of Acemoglu & Robinson. You need not even buy into their institutional arguments
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Technology has been the primary driver.

Argument nicely destroyed by Justin Wolfers (and many others). Too bad for the t-shirt makers
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Saez-Zucman: wealth inequality shot up post 1986. Big cause: savings creates 0.4% annual wealth growth for bottom 90%, 3.4% for top 1%.
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Interest and growth rates are equlibrium phenomena--so even if they are important, there must be something deeper at work.

Is this an inside joke? BEA estimates show little change in rate of return.

Income and savings inequality increases are now fueling US wealth inequality. Down the road r-g will be central as predicted by Piketty

Many forces at work, both economic, social and political, making it difficult to identify one as most important.

The rapid rise in very high labor incomes seems to be much more important in the US.

Perhaps technological change, globalization, and fiscal policy matter quite a bit?!

Trends in U.S. wealth inequality are accounted for by trends in income inequality. See Section 3 of Krugman's review of Piketty.
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A bug in the system prevents me from stating that I am 100% sure that I don't know the answer to this question.

Difficult claim to evaluate, because both the return and the growth rate depend on savings, and on the distribution of wealth.
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