17 Thomas Piketty Quotes for You to Enjoy

Thomas Piketty

French Economist

Born: May 7, 1971

People Think Time Very Wealth You

Related authors: Adam Smith Alan Greenspan E. F. Schumacher John Kenneth Galbraith John Maynard Keynes Milton Friedman Paul A. Volcker Thomas Sowell

Market forces and capitalism by themselves aren't sufficient to ensure the common good and to limit the concentration of wealth at levels that are compatible with democratic ideals. Thomas Piketty

Good Capitalism Wealth Market Market Forces Ensure Ideals Concentration Democratic Forces Limit Common Common Good Themselves Compatible Sufficient Levels

One way to have broader access to wealth is to reduce the tax on the large group and increase the tax on the very top so concentration of wealth doesn't get to extreme levels. Thomas Piketty

Wealth Group Increase Extreme Top Way Broader One-Way Concentration Access Reduce Very Get Tax Large Large Group Levels

We want capitalism and market forces to be the slave of democracy rather than the opposite. Thomas Piketty

Democracy Capitalism Market Market Forces Rather Forces Opposite Than Want Slave

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

Class Wealth Increase Destroy Wealthy Bottom Middle Tax Middle Class Premise

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

History Science Political Community Broader About Part Study Economists Pragmatic Methods Political Science Social Modest Should Use Aware Need

Having a decent share of the national wealth for the middle class is not bad for growth. It is actually useful both for equity and efficiency reasons. Thomas Piketty

Class Wealth National Bad Having Both Share Equity Efficiency Decent Middle Middle Class Useful Reasons Actually Growth

'Das Kapital,' I think, is very difficult to read, and for me, it was not very influential. Thomas Piketty

Me Difficult Think Read Very Influential

The United States could transform its property tax system into a progressive tax on net worth without asking permission to the rest of the world. Thomas Piketty

Property World Worth Rest Progressive States System Net Net Worth Could Without Permission Tax Transform Tax System Asking United United States

I loved American universities. In many ways, they are better organized - certainly than French universities. Thomas Piketty

Better Ways French Than American Loved Certainly Organized Many Universities

Economists tend to think they are much, much smarter than historians, than everybody. And this is a bit too much because at the end of the day, we don't know very much in economics. Thomas Piketty

Day End Of The Day Too Much Economics Think Too Everybody Bit Tend Smarter Economists Know Because Historians End Very Than Much

The U.S. is the country that invented progressive taxation of income and of inherited wealth in the 1910s and '20s. Thomas Piketty

Wealth Country Progressive Invented Taxation Inherited Income

I believe in the power of ideas, I believe in the power of books, but you have to give them time. Thomas Piketty

Time You Power Believe Books Give Ideas Them

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