Thomas Piketty
Encyclopedia
Thomas Piketty is a French
economist
who specializes in the study of economic inequality
.
, Paris
, to parents who had taken part in the May 1968 riots. He gained a C-stream Baccalauréat
, and after taking mathematics preparatory classes, he entered the École Normale Supérieure
(ENS) at the age of 18, where he studied economics.
At the age of 22, Piketty was awarded his PhD for a thesis on the subject of wealth redistribution, which he had written at the ENS and at the London School of Economics
, under the supervision of Roger Guesnerie
.
(MIT) from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, he joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) as a researcher, and in 2000 he became director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales
(EHESS).
From late 2006 to early 2007, he was the first head of the Paris School of Economics
, after spending three years creating it. He quickly left, however, due to his support for Ségolène Royal
in the French presidential campaign (which have compromised his neutrality obligation), and according to him, following a decision he had taken a long time before. Piketty has been back teaching at the Paris School of Economics since 2007.
, with his works in this domain covering both theoretical and normative issues. At first, in the late 1990s, he took a historic and statistical approach.
Piketty opposes the decrease in fiscal burden that has been happening in France since the late 1990s, because he believes it will assist the rebuilding of the earlier large fortunes of the rentier
class. Replacing this economically inactive class, which previously dominated the income hierarchy, with working people gaining their income from labor, would lead to a decrease in inequalities and a stimulation of economic growth
.
Employing a statistical survey, Piketty also attempted to show that the Laffer effect
, which asserts that high marginal taxation rates on top incomes are an incentive for the rich to work less, was probably negligible or small in the case of France.
. This research led to reports on the evolution of inequalities in the USA, and on economic dynamics in the English-speaking world and the countries of continental Europe.
The surveys found that English-speaking countries, after undergoing a similar decrease in economic inequalities as in continental Europe, have, over the past 30 years, been following a process of building strong inequalities again.
in the 1950s. According to Kuznets, the evolution of earnings inequalities was to be shaped, in the long run, as a bell curve (Kuznets Curve
), growing at the beginning of the industrial revolution, to decrease later, due particularly to the reallocation of labor force from low productivity sectors like agriculture to higher productivity sectors such as industry.
According to Piketty, the tendency observed by Kuznets in the early 1950s is not necessarily a product of deep economical forces (e.g. sectoral spillover, the effects of technological progress). Instead, estates, rather than wage inequalities, decreased, and they did for reasons which are not specifically economical (among which the creation of income tax plays a major role), contingent or reversible. Consequently, nothing guarantees that this decrease will continue. In fact, inequalities have grown sharply in the USA over the last 30 years, returning to their 1930s level.
He took an interest in inequalities in schools, in which he sees a major cause for the persistence of inequalities in wages, and therefore in the economy, and he surveyed the impact of class sizes on success at school.
He has published a short book about the future of the French pension system, in which he promotes the implementation of a Swedish-inspired points-based system.
During the 2007 French presidential campaign, he supported Ségolène Royal
, and was one of her economic advisors.
According to a list dated November 11, 2003, he is a member of the scientific orientation board of the association À gauche en Europe, founded by Michel Rocard
and Dominique Strauss-Kahn
.
, and occasionally writes op-ed
s for Le Monde
.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
who specializes in the study of economic inequality
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
.
Youth and education
Piketty was born on May 7, 1971, in ClichyClichy, Hauts-de-Seine
-Administration:The canton covers a part of the commune; the other is in the northern part of Levallois-Perret-Twinnings: Heidenheim, Germany, since 1959 Sankt Pölten, Austria, since 1968 Santo Tirso, Portugal, since 1991 Rubí, Spain, since 2005 Southwark, United Kingdom, since 2005Clichy has also...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, to parents who had taken part in the May 1968 riots. He gained a C-stream Baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
, and after taking mathematics preparatory classes, he entered the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
(ENS) at the age of 18, where he studied economics.
At the age of 22, Piketty was awarded his PhD for a thesis on the subject of wealth redistribution, which he had written at the ENS and at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, under the supervision of Roger Guesnerie
Roger Guesnerie
Roger Guesnerie is an economist born in France in 1943. He is currently the Chaired Professor of Economic Theory and Social Organization of the Collège de France, Director of Studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Paris School...
.
Career
After his thesis, Piketty taught economics at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, he joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) as a researcher, and in 2000 he became director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
(EHESS).
From late 2006 to early 2007, he was the first head of the Paris School of Economics
Paris School of Economics
The Paris School of Economics , created on 21 December 2006 in Paris, France, is a French economics department. The EEP combines researchers from several institutions, including DELTA and INRA...
, after spending three years creating it. He quickly left, however, due to his support for Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
in the French presidential campaign (which have compromised his neutrality obligation), and according to him, following a decision he had taken a long time before. Piketty has been back teaching at the Paris School of Economics since 2007.
Works
Picketty specializes in economic inequalityEconomic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
, with his works in this domain covering both theoretical and normative issues. At first, in the late 1990s, he took a historic and statistical approach.
Study of long term economic inequalities
A research project into high incomes in France led to the publishing of Les hauts revenus en France au XXe (Grasset, 2001) (High incomes in France in the 20th Century), which was based on survey of statistical series covering the whole of the 20th century, built from data from the fiscal services (particularly income tax declarations).Survey on the evolution of inequalities in France
Piketty's work revealed that earnings inequalities dropped sharply during the 20th century in France, mostly after World War II. This was due, in large part, to a decrease in estate inequalities, while wage inequalities remained stable. According to Piketty, the decrease resulted from the strong growth in the progressivity of income tax after the war, which upset the dynamics of estate accumulation by reducing the surplus money available for saving by the wealthiest.Piketty opposes the decrease in fiscal burden that has been happening in France since the late 1990s, because he believes it will assist the rebuilding of the earlier large fortunes of the rentier
Rentier state
A rentier state is a term in political science and international relations theory used to classify those states which derive all or a substantial portion of their national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients.- Usage :...
class. Replacing this economically inactive class, which previously dominated the income hierarchy, with working people gaining their income from labor, would lead to a decrease in inequalities and a stimulation of economic growth
Economic growth
In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
.
Employing a statistical survey, Piketty also attempted to show that the Laffer effect
Laffer curve
In economics, the Laffer curve is a theoretical representation of the relationship between government revenue raised by taxation and all possible rates of taxation. It is used to illustrate the concept of taxable income elasticity . The curve is constructed by thought experiment...
, which asserts that high marginal taxation rates on top incomes are an incentive for the rich to work less, was probably negligible or small in the case of France.
Comparative work
Piketty subsequently began comparative works on the dynamics of inequalities in other developed countries. He built statistical series based on a similar method to that which he used in his studies of France, working with other economists, particularly Emmanuel SaezEmmanuel Saez
Emmanuel Saez is a French economist. Saez is Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley...
. This research led to reports on the evolution of inequalities in the USA, and on economic dynamics in the English-speaking world and the countries of continental Europe.
The surveys found that English-speaking countries, after undergoing a similar decrease in economic inequalities as in continental Europe, have, over the past 30 years, been following a process of building strong inequalities again.
A critic of the Kuznets curve
The analyses of Piketty can be seen as a critical continuation of the pioneering work of Simon KuznetsSimon Kuznets
Simon Smith Kuznets was a Russian American economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who won the 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and...
in the 1950s. According to Kuznets, the evolution of earnings inequalities was to be shaped, in the long run, as a bell curve (Kuznets Curve
Kuznets curve
A Kuznets curve is the graphical representation of Simon Kuznets' hypothesis that economic inequality increases over time while a country is developing, and then after a certain average income is attained, inequality begins to decrease....
), growing at the beginning of the industrial revolution, to decrease later, due particularly to the reallocation of labor force from low productivity sectors like agriculture to higher productivity sectors such as industry.
According to Piketty, the tendency observed by Kuznets in the early 1950s is not necessarily a product of deep economical forces (e.g. sectoral spillover, the effects of technological progress). Instead, estates, rather than wage inequalities, decreased, and they did for reasons which are not specifically economical (among which the creation of income tax plays a major role), contingent or reversible. Consequently, nothing guarantees that this decrease will continue. In fact, inequalities have grown sharply in the USA over the last 30 years, returning to their 1930s level.
Other work
Besides these surveys, which make up the core of his work, Piketty has published in other areas, often with a connection to economic inequalities.He took an interest in inequalities in schools, in which he sees a major cause for the persistence of inequalities in wages, and therefore in the economy, and he surveyed the impact of class sizes on success at school.
He has published a short book about the future of the French pension system, in which he promotes the implementation of a Swedish-inspired points-based system.
Political commitment
Piketty has close connections with the French socialist party, and took part in the economic commission of that party from 1995 to 1997.During the 2007 French presidential campaign, he supported Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
, and was one of her economic advisors.
According to a list dated November 11, 2003, he is a member of the scientific orientation board of the association À gauche en Europe, founded by Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
and Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
.
Press
Piketty is a columnist for LibérationLibération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
, and occasionally writes op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
s for Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
.