scholarly journals Putting Distribution Back at the Center of Economics: Reflections on Capital in the Twenty-First Century

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Piketty
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
First Century ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
International Tax Competition ◽  
Return On Capital ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twenty First Century

When a lengthy book is widely discussed in academic circles and the popular media, it is probably inevitable that the arguments of the book will be simplified in the telling and retelling. In the case of my book Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014), a common simplification of the main theme is that because the rate of return on capital r exceeds the growth rate of the economy g, the inequality of wealth is destined to increase indefinitely over time. In my view, the magnitude of the gap between r and g is indeed one of the important forces that can explain historical magnitudes and variations in wealth inequality. However, I do not view r > g as the only or even the primary tool for considering changes in income and wealth in the 20th century, or for forecasting the path of income and wealth inequality in the 21st century. In this essay, I will take up several themes from my book that have perhaps become attenuated or garbled in the ongoing discussions of the book, and will seek to re-explain and re-frame these themes. First, I stress the key role played in my book by the interaction between beliefs systems, institutions, and the dynamics of inequality. Second, I briefly describe my multidimensional approach to the history of capital and inequality. Third, I review the relationship and differing causes between wealth inequality and income inequality. Fourth, I turn to the specific role of r > g in the dynamics of wealth inequality: specifically, a larger r − g gap will amplify the steady-state inequality of a wealth distribution that arises out of a given mixture of shocks. Fifth, I consider some of the scenarios that affect how r − g might evolve in the 21st century, including rising international tax competition, a growth slowdown, and differential access by the wealthy to higher returns on capital. Finally, I seek to clarify what is distinctive in my historical and political economy approach to institutions and inequality dynamics, and the complementarity with other approaches.

Reclaiming Félix Éboué Departmentalization and the Politics of Commemoration in Guyane, 1944–2012

2018 ◽  
pp. 126-150
Author(s):  
Sarah Wood
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Politics ◽  
First Century ◽  
International Airport ◽  
Local Committee ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Power ◽  
Twenty First Century

This chapter locates the figure of Félix Éboué in the cultural politics of commemoration in Guyane. It offers a cultural history of the production of memorials to Éboué in Guyane (his birthplace) and beyond, assessing the role of these markers of national power in the local landscape. The chapter focuses first on the monument located in central Cayenne, produced at the instigation of a local committee and inaugurated in 1957, towards the end of the Fourth Republic. It then addresses the revival of 'memory' of Éboué and the renewal of his presence in Guyane which occurred during the 2000s. Instigated in part by Christiane Taubira, this culminated in the renaming of the only international airport in the Département — the key point of arrival and departure between Paris and Cayenne. The chapter concludes by asking how the vision of Guyane asserted in the act of ‘remembering’ Éboué has changed or been adapted in the twenty-first century.

scholarly journals Some problems in Piketty: an internal critique

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Alan Tapper
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
National Income ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Income Ratio ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Distribution Trends

Thomas Piketty’s evidence on wealth distribution trends in Capital in the Twenty-First Century shows that – contra his own interpretation – there has been little rise in wealth inequality in Europe and America since the 1970s. This article relates that finding to the other principal trends in Piketty’s analysis: the capital/national income ratio trend, the capital-labor split of total incomes and the income inequality trend. Given that wealth inequality is not rising markedly, what can we deduce about the putative causes that might be operating upstream? Only the capital-labor split looks like a plausible explanation of the wealth inequality trend.

scholarly journals Studying development in the 21st Century

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-356
Author(s):  
Michael S. C. Thomas ◽  
Gert Westermann ◽  
Denis Mareschal ◽  
Mark H. Johnson ◽  
Sylvain Sirois ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Future Study ◽  
First Century ◽  
Target Article ◽  
The Future ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn this response, we consider four main issues arising from the commentaries to the target article. These include further details of the theory of interactive specialization, the relationship between neuroconstructivism and selectionism, the implications of neuroconstructivism for the notion of representation, and the role of genetics in theories of development. We conclude by stressing the importance of multidisciplinary approaches in the future study of cognitive development and by identifying the directions in which neuroconstructivism can expand in the Twenty-first Century.

scholarly journals Stability or stasis in the names of organisms: the evolving codes of nomenclature

2004 ◽  
Vol 359 (1444) ◽  
pp. 611-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Knapp ◽  
Gerardo Lamas ◽  
Eimear Nic Lughadha ◽  
Gianfranco Novarino
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twenty First Century

Nomenclature, far from being a dry dusty subject, is today more relevant than ever before. Researchers into genomics are discovering again the need for systems of nomenclature—names are what we use to communicate about organisms, and by extension the rest of their biology. Here, we briefly outline the history of the published international codes of nomenclature, tracing them from the time of Linnaeus in the eighteenth century to the present day. We then outline some of what we feel are the major challenges that face the codes in the twenty–first century; focusing primarily on publication, priority, typification and the role of science in the naming of organisms. We conclude that the codes are essential for taxonomists in the pursuance of their science, and that the democratic nature of decision–making in the regulation of the rules of nomenclature, though sometimes perceived as a potential weakness, is in fact one of its great strengths.

scholarly journals An Approach of Historical and Economic BRICS Creation in South-South Cooperation Resurgence Landmark in the Twenty-First Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Gabriel Galdino
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Relations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Reduced Scale

In the history of international relations, the association between developing countries occurred on a reduced scale until the mid-twentieth century. This article takes a historical and economic approach about the formation of the movements characterized as South-South Cooperation, including the emergence of the BRICS in the 21st century.

Capital (It Fails Us Now)

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Toscano
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
First Century ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Democratic Reform ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twenty First Century

This introduction to Historical Materialism’s mini-symposium on Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century places the three contributions by Husson, Mann and Roberts in the context of an exploration of the link between methodology and politics in Piketty’s economic history of inequality. Touching on the role of time and literature in Piketty’s argument, as well as on his difficulty in accounting for the relations of capital – especially ones originating in colonialism and empire – it approaches Piketty’s book, and its success, in terms of its concerted effort to produce a cognitive mapping of contemporary capitalism that can serve as a prelude to its democratic reform.

scholarly journals Some problems in Piketty: An internal critique

2017 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Alan Tapper
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
National Income ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Income Ratio ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Distribution Trends

Thomas Piketty’s evidence on wealth distribution trends in Capital in the Twenty-First Century shows that – contra his own interpretation – there has been little rise in wealth inequality in Europe and America since the 1970s. This article relates that finding to the other principal trends in Piketty’s analysis: the capital/national income ratio trend, the capital-labor split of total incomes and the income inequality trend. Given that wealth inequality is not rising markedly, what can we deduce about the putative causes that might be operating upstream? Only the capital-labor split looks like a plausible explanation of the wealth inequality trend.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brydie-Leigh Bartleet ◽  
Lee Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
First Century ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Key Skills ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Historical Developments

A documented history of almost fifty years and a growing internationalization and interculturalisation of community music invites a revisiting of some of the field’s approaches, ideologies, and contexts. This chapter critically reflects on historical developments and current realities of how the field is conceptualized around the globe. It also touches on the role of community music facilitators in bringing about social change and outlines some of the key skills, working methods, values and ethics that are commonly associated with work in this field. It provides a snapshot of what has become a truly global phenomenon, and critically discusses the recurring question of whether community music needs a new defitinion or (re)definition in the twenty-first century.

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