Monday May 16, 2022
  • Venezuela
  • Mexico
  • Colombia
  • Chile
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • Podcast
Versión Español
PanAm Post
  • Home
  • Regions
    • South America
    • North America
    • Central America
    • Caribbean
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Authors
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Regions
    • South America
    • North America
    • Central America
    • Caribbean
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Authors
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
PanAm Post
No Result
View All Result

Home » Piketty Dishes Up Class Envy, Disguised as Economics

Piketty Dishes Up Class Envy, Disguised as Economics

Javier Garay by Javier Garay
July 25, 2014
in Colombia, Columnists, Economics, Ideology, Opinion, South America
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterTelegramWhatsapp

EspañolA few days ago, Colombian news outlets began circulating the story of young people from high-income families who want to play football but are intimidated by their low-income competitors. Although this development may seem anecdotal, the story’s popularity is in fact a reflection of the negative view that has extended over the creation of wealth, and particularly over those who are wealthy.

This view not only seeks action against “the rich,” it is based on an interpretation of what they are. Many in society hold a flawed, binary conception of wealth: “the rich” are bad, while “the poor” are good.

RelatedArticles

The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US

The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US

August 21, 2021
GETTR: the powerful weapon of Trump and international right wing

GETTR: the powerful weapon of Trump and international right wing

July 13, 2021

Unfortunately, this view is widely accepted, and it circulates as a rationalization for envy. The most recent example of this phenomenon is the popular book written by Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2013).

In this book, the French economist uses more than 600 pages, with considerable empirical evidence, to express one single idea: those who are wealthy must be penalized. As a consequence, most of the book’s reviews have focused on inequality and its impact on the world.

El economista francés Thomas Piketty en Cambridge, Massachusetts
The French economist Thomas Piketty in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Wikimedia)

For Piketty, though, inequality appears to be something negative on face, just because.

On the one hand, he recognizes that it is not an intrinsic economic problem, as poverty is. Nor does it have undesirable effects with regards to generating poverty, except for a strange and almost desperate relationship made by the author between inequality and the current financial recession.

On the other hand, throughout the book, the author affirms that inequality may cause social dysfunction, due to the dissatisfaction of most people. Who are these people? He does not specify precisely, but he makes two references to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

What will be the result of this dissatisfaction? He does not make specific forecasts either. However, the author’s fears — to which he dedicated an entire book and in-depth research — suggest the worst phenomena: war and violent revolution.

One could analyze such outcomes in depth, but the point is that his book is a verbose example of the rationalization of envy. To the author, the problem is not poverty but the existence of wealth. Piketty, with sophisticated statistics and purported economic wisdom, unsuccessfully tries to hide his discomfort when it comes to the existence of rich people.

His explanation for the alleged, inevitable increase in inequality stems from two sources: (1) capital acquired, across generations, through inheritance, and (2) the disproportionate growth for manager salaries. This is where his attempt to make the subjective look objective comes undone, and his discomfort is visible.

He affirms, for example, that executive salaries — which, to him, are inflated — are unjustified, because their marginal productivity cannot be measured. Ludwig von Mises addressed this issue in Human Action a long time ago, but that is not convenient. Piketty also views inheritance as unjustified, because the heirs did not work for the wealth, and supposedly all fortunes have a theft component — a baseless fallacy, since all gifts work in that manner.

What is the result of the rationalization? Piketty’s recommendation is that the inherited capital needs to be taxed for increased redistribution, the welfare state, and to pay public debt. To Piketty, property rights, besides being inconvenient, are a minor obstacle: if the states are in debt while there exists considerable private capital, this must be confiscated to pay the debts. In other words, the rich people of the world must bear the brunt when state officials are not acting responsibly.

With regards to high salaries, Piketty’s “solution” is, literally, a final solution: these need to be extinguished through taxes. The goal is not to increase tax collection per se, but to penalize the existence of high salaries, which the author considers unjustifiable.

With academics providing fodder for envy, it is not a surprise to see class-warfare stories arise, such as the news story I mentioned. In present-day society, under the cover of the permeable concept of “social justice,” a self-sacrifice morality has become mandatory, which would outrage Ayn Rand. Not only has “helping” become centralized, it has ceased to be voluntary. Correspondingly, antisocial morality, such as envy, has become justified.

Hurting the rich may be politically correct, but it is a mistake. Thomas Piketty, in his endeavor to justify a banal sentiment, as his own envy is, forgets to mention the existence of another possible revolution, as popularized in Atlas Shrugged. Ideally, we would not need such a strike of producers against takers, but everything indicates that it is the outcome people are pursuing.

Translated by Mariana Nava.

Tags: Capital in the Twenty-First CenturyenvyThomas Piketty
Previous Post

US Congresswomen Denounce Leopoldo López’s “Sham” Trial

Next Post

No Tweets for You: Correa’s Opponents Censored

Javier Garay

Javier Garay

Javier Garay is a professor at the Externado University of Colombia. He has written two books on international issues, such as development, after his doctoral dissertation focused on the same topic. Follow him on Twitter @crittiko and through his personal blog, Crittiko.

Related Posts

The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US
Columnists

The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US

August 21, 2021
GETTR: the powerful weapon of Trump and international right wing
United States

GETTR: the powerful weapon of Trump and international right wing

July 13, 2021
News

Maduro’s Trial Falls Behind Despite Coordination Between Interim Government and ICC

June 15, 2021
Three Signs That Elon Musk Has the World at His Fingertips
Columnists

Trump Against Suppression of Human Rights

February 1, 2021
Three Key Moments to Remind Us That the UN Is a Nest of Oppressive Regimes
Analysis

Three Key Moments to Remind Us That the UN Is a Nest of Oppressive Regimes

January 29, 2021
Dollarization Advances in Venezuela with Debit Cards for Foreign Currency Accounts
Argentina

Argentina Drags Chile in its Bipolar Madness Over Venezuela

January 28, 2021
Next Post
No Tweets for You: Correa’s Opponents Censored

No Tweets for You: Correa’s Opponents Censored

Subscribe free and never miss another breaking story

  • Venezuela
  • Mexico
  • Colombia
  • Chile
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • Podcast

© 2020 PanAm Post - Design & Develop by NEW DREAM GLOBAL CORP. - Privacy policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Regions
    • South America
    • North America
    • Central America
    • Caribbean
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Authors
  • Contact

© 2020 PanAm Post - Design & Develop by NEW DREAM GLOBAL CORP. - Privacy policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Privacy and Cookie Policy.