{"id":297568,"date":"2020-03-03T14:30:07","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T19:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=297568"},"modified":"2023-11-08T20:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T01:23:54","slug":"pikettys-new-book-explores-how-economic-inequality-is-perpetuated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2020\/03\/pikettys-new-book-explores-how-economic-inequality-is-perpetuated\/","title":{"rendered":"How political ideas keep economic inequality going"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"Thomas

French economist Thomas Piketty will discuss his new research into the historical roots of economic inequality around the world.<\/p>

Photo by Joel Saget<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWork & Economy\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tHow political ideas keep economic inequality going\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tChristina Pazzanese\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tThomas Piketty takes a long look at global history and ways to redistribute wealth\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

As the gulf between the haves and the have nots continues to widen, the roiling debate over economic inequality has become a political prime mover in the U.S. and across Europe. French economist Thomas Piketty\u2019s<\/a> 2013 landmark analysis of Western economic inequality, \u201cCapital in the 21st Century,\u201d became a must-read in both popular and academic circles. Now, he\u2019s back with \u201cCapital and Ideology<\/a>\u201d (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020), a global look at the history of the problem, how institutions and ideologies reinforce it, and how it can be remedied.<\/p>\n

Piketty will visit Harvard on Friday to give the Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies<\/a> (CES). He will return April 6 for a Weatherhead Initiative on Global History<\/a> talk and give the annual Tanner<\/a> Lectures on Human Values on April 15. The English version of \u201cCapital and Ideology,\u201d translated by Arthur Goldhammer<\/a>, the distinguished book translator and longtime CES affiliate, is due out March 10.<\/p>\n

Piketty, a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Paris School of Economics, spoke to the Gazette about his anxiously awaited new book.<\/p>\n

Q&A<\/h2>\n

Thomas Piketty<\/h3>\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You write that inequality is not the result of economics or technological change, but is rooted in ideology and politics. How so and why is it important to understand its roots \u2014 how does that aid in its dismantling?<\/p>\n

PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I do in this book is take a very long-run look at the inequality regime in a comparative perspective. I define \u201cinequality regime\u201d as the justification [used] for the structure of inequality and also the institutions \u2014 the legal system, the educational system, the fiscal system \u2014 that help sustain a certain level of equality or inequality in a given society. I look at the history of this inequality regime over a very long run, across many countries and regions of the world, and what I first observed is a lot of variation over time. You see very fast transformation, sometimes due to revolution, [like] the French Revolution. But also, Sweden used to be a very unequal country until the beginning of the 20th century. And then, following a very large social mobilization by trade unions and the Social Democratic party, Sweden became one of the most equal countries in history. You could say the U.S., after the Great Depression, also turned to a very progressive tax system and reduced its inequality enormously.<\/p>\n

And so, in all these historical experiences, what\u2019s very striking is the speed and the magnitude. If you had told people in Sweden in 1910 that the country was going to become a social democratic Sweden 20 years later, nobody would have believed it. The dominant groups always tend to be conservative and always tend to define the existing inequality as being natural, coming from some natural scheme or natural institutions or from rules that cannot be changed. But, in practice, what you see is something very different: The way inequality is organized can change very quickly. Sometimes it takes major shocks, including revolution and war, but it also happens very often in a peaceful manner like Sweden or the U.S.<\/p>\n

So this is the story I tell in the book, and it\u2019s important because I think it will be the same in the future. Nobody knows where change will come from \u2014 from an election, from social movement, the growing awareness of the climate crisis or other factors of change. But the idea that the current economic system will never change and we\u2019ll just continue with business as usual forever is just not convincing at all, especially in light of the rich political history of inequality regimes that I put forward in this book.<\/p>\n\r\n

“It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You seem to have taken to heart some of the limitations of \u201cCapital in the 21st Century.\u201d One that you\u2019ve frequently acknowledged is the last book\u2019s Western-centric focus and what you\u2019ve called its \u201cblack box\u201d treatment of the political and ideological changes associated with inequality. How have you tried to rectify those shortcomings here?<\/p>\n

PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> First, I show how the rise of inequality in Western societies was very much rooted in a system of world domination and of colonial domination and colonial appropriation. It\u2019s a theme that was present a little bit, but was not very well developed. So now, I insist on the importance of slave societies and post-slavery colonial societies in the formation of modern inequality. It played a very big role, and in particular, the large wealth portfolio of European society in the 19th century and early 20th century came from colonial wealth and colonial appropriation. It also played a big role in this [private] ownership society in the\u00a020th century. The international dimension and the colonial dimension of the inequality regime of the 19th century and early 20th century is very important in order to better understand the origin of the transformation that finally took place in the\u00a020th century.<\/p>\n

Also, the system of justification of inequality is also much more at the center of this book. The last part of this book is tied to the evolution of the electoral structure \u2014 who votes for the Democratic Party in the U.S., who votes for the Labour Party in Britain or for the Social Democratic Party in Germany or the Socialist Party in France. All of this changes [after] World War II. I show that these parties that were the parties of workers and had the highest electoral score among the lowest education group and the lowest income and wealth group, have actually become, over the past 40 or 50 years, the parties of the educated. I try to understand why and argue that this has to do with the ideology of these parties. The political platforms advocated by these parties have become less and less concerned with inequality and redistribution, or at least this is what I argue. This work is able to better go after the matter when it comes to the deep forces behind changes in inequality.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t

\"Chart

The share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018. Inequality increased everywhere, but the size of the increase varied sharply from country to country, at all levels of development. For example, it was greater in the United States than in Europe (enlarged European Union, 540 millions inhabitants) and greater in India than in China.\t\t\t<\/p>

Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology.et<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Much of current focus on inequality centers on the rise of right-wing populism and appeals to ethnic, religious, and national divisions. But you say the rise of elitism and the left\u2019s failure to offer a persuasive counter-ideology to right-wing populism deserves more scrutiny. Can you elaborate?<\/p>\n

PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I mean is that in the post-War period, in the \u201950s and \u201960s, the Democratic Party in the U.S. and social democratic parties in Europe were able to convince voters with lower education, lower income, lower wage[s] that they are the platform for them. That, in effect, what ties them together, despite their differences \u2026 is a platform of educational expansion, workers\u2019 rights, Social Security, progressive taxation. [This] is what has made this coalition stick together. Then, what we see is that gradually over the past four decades, these parties have become the party of the educational elite. So while the right-wing parties and the center-right party are still the parties of the business elite or the high wealth elite \u2026 [W]e have moved from this class-based system to what I describe as a multi-elite system, where basically the educational elite votes for the Brahmin left and the wealthy elite votes for the merchant right or the business right. This rise of elitism, in effect, has left a lot of voters feeling abandoned [by] the main two parties, and I feel this has largely contributed to the rise of what is sometimes known as populism.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t

\"In

In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\t\t\t<\/p>

Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n

GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>You propose a way forward that reinstitutes a progressive tax system that will fund something like a universal basic income. Broadly, what does that look like? How do you get the rich and powerful to give things up? And why was it important to you not just to document and analyze inequality, but to also offer a possible solution?<\/p>\n

PIKETTY:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system. I think it\u2019s too easy for scholars and social scientists and economists and historians like myself \u2026<\/strong> just to describe or to talk about history and not to take a stand in the present and in the future. So I\u2019m trying to make an effort to deal with the future. People can either believe or come to their own conclusions from the historical material I present.<\/p>\n

What do I feel has the most promise for the future? There are two main ideas, one is social federalism and the other is participatory socialism. Social federalism is a view that if you want to keep globalization going and you want to avoid this retreat to nationalism and the frontier of the nation-state that we see in a number of countries, you need to organize globalization in a more social way. If you want to have international treaties between European countries and Canada and the U.S. and Latin America and Africa, these treaties cannot simply be about free trade and free capital flow. They need to set some target in terms of equitable growth and equitable development. So, how much you want to tax large international corporations [and] high wealth\/high income individuals? What kind of target do you want for carbon emissions? Free trade and free capital flows can be part of this new and more social international treaty that we need to organize globalization, but they can\u2019t be the first chapter of this treaty. They must be put to the service of higher goals, goals about sustainable development and equitable development, and they must be regulated. Technically, it\u2019s not so complicated. The issue is really not political and ideological. We\u2019ve been accustomed for several decades to treaties without any explicit fiscal or social policy. This has to change.<\/p>\n

Participatory socialism is the general objective of more \u201caccess\u201d to education. Educational justice is very important in terms of access to higher education. Today there\u2019s a lot of hyper criticism, not only in the U.S., but also in France and in Europe, that we don\u2019t set quantifiable and verifiable targets in terms of how children [from] lower [income] groups [gain] access to higher education, what kind of funding [they] have for higher education. The other big dimension is circulation of property, so I talk about \u201cinheritance for all.\u201d The idea is to use a progressive tax on wealth in order to finance [a] capital transfer to every young adult at the age of 25. This transfer is in effect, 120,000 euros [about $134,000] per person, [which is] about the level of medium wealth today in France or in the U.S. That will very much transform the ability of children from poor families or middle-class families to create their own firms. Just having this kind of property puts you in a different position in life in general \u2014 what kind of jobs, what kind of wage, do I need to accept? It transforms the basic structure of power in society and that\u2019s something very important. What I propose is not full equality; there will still be a lot of inequality. But this would make a big difference. The general idea is that not only the children of wealthy parents who have good ideas can create companies and participate in the economy. We need to rely on a much broader group of the population.<\/p>\n

Interview has been edited for clarity and condensed for length.<\/em><\/p>\n

Friday’s Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> will be viewable via livestream.<\/a><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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global history and ways to redistribute wealth","centeredImage":true,"className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","mediaHeight":1667,"mediaWidth":2500,"backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Thomas Piketty.\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Piketty.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">French economist Thomas Piketty will discuss his new research into the historical roots of economic inequality around the world.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Photo by Joel Saget<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Thomas Piketty.\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Piketty.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">French economist Thomas Piketty will discuss his new research into the historical roots of economic inequality around the world.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Photo by Joel Saget<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Thomas Piketty.\" height=\"1667\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Piketty.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">French economist Thomas Piketty will discuss his new research into the historical roots of economic inequality around the world.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Photo by Joel Saget<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/business-economy\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tWork & Economy\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tHow political ideas keep economic inequality going\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tChristina Pazzanese\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2020-03-03\">\n\t\t\tMarch 3, 2020\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\tlong read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tThomas Piketty takes a long look at global history and ways to redistribute wealth\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>As the gulf between the haves and the have nots continues to widen, the roiling debate over economic inequality has become a political prime mover in the U.S. and across Europe. French economist <a href=\"http:\/\/piketty.pse.ens.fr\/fr\/\">Thomas Piketty\u2019s<\/a> 2013 landmark analysis of Western economic inequality, \u201cCapital in the 21st Century,\u201d became a must-read in both popular and academic circles. Now, he\u2019s back with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980822\">Capital and Ideology<\/a>\u201d (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020), a global look at the history of the problem, how institutions and ideologies reinforce it, and how it can be remedied.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty will visit Harvard on Friday to give the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/\">Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies<\/a> (CES). He will return April 6 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu\/event\/thomas-piketty-capital-and-ideology\">Weatherhead Initiative on Global History<\/a> talk and give the annual <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/revolutions-and-inequalities-18th-c-21st-c\">Tanner<\/a> Lectures on Human Values on April 15. The English version of \u201cCapital and Ideology,\u201d translated by <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/000201-arthur-goldhammer\">Arthur Goldhammer<\/a>, the distinguished book translator and longtime CES affiliate, is due out March 10.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty, a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Paris School of Economics, spoke to the Gazette about his anxiously awaited new book.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q&A<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thomas Piketty<\/h3>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You write that inequality is not the result of economics or technological change, but is rooted in ideology and politics. How so and why is it important to understand its roots \u2014 how does that aid in its dismantling?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I do in this book is take a very long-run look at the inequality regime in a comparative perspective. I define \u201cinequality regime\u201d as the justification [used] for the structure of inequality and also the institutions \u2014 the legal system, the educational system, the fiscal system \u2014 that help sustain a certain level of equality or inequality in a given society. I look at the history of this inequality regime over a very long run, across many countries and regions of the world, and what I first observed is a lot of variation over time. You see very fast transformation, sometimes due to revolution, [like] the French Revolution. But also, Sweden used to be a very unequal country until the beginning of the 20th century. And then, following a very large social mobilization by trade unions and the Social Democratic party, Sweden became one of the most equal countries in history. You could say the U.S., after the Great Depression, also turned to a very progressive tax system and reduced its inequality enormously.<\/p>\n<p>And so, in all these historical experiences, what\u2019s very striking is the speed and the magnitude. If you had told people in Sweden in 1910 that the country was going to become a social democratic Sweden 20 years later, nobody would have believed it. The dominant groups always tend to be conservative and always tend to define the existing inequality as being natural, coming from some natural scheme or natural institutions or from rules that cannot be changed. But, in practice, what you see is something very different: The way inequality is organized can change very quickly. Sometimes it takes major shocks, including revolution and war, but it also happens very often in a peaceful manner like Sweden or the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>So this is the story I tell in the book, and it\u2019s important because I think it will be the same in the future. Nobody knows where change will come from \u2014 from an election, from social movement, the growing awareness of the climate crisis or other factors of change. But the idea that the current economic system will never change and we\u2019ll just continue with business as usual forever is just not convincing at all, especially in light of the rich political history of inequality regimes that I put forward in this book.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>As the gulf between the haves and the have nots continues to widen, the roiling debate over economic inequality has become a political prime mover in the U.S. and across Europe. French economist <a href=\"http:\/\/piketty.pse.ens.fr\/fr\/\">Thomas Piketty\u2019s<\/a> 2013 landmark analysis of Western economic inequality, \u201cCapital in the 21st Century,\u201d became a must-read in both popular and academic circles. Now, he\u2019s back with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980822\">Capital and Ideology<\/a>\u201d (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020), a global look at the history of the problem, how institutions and ideologies reinforce it, and how it can be remedied.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty will visit Harvard on Friday to give the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/\">Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies<\/a> (CES). He will return April 6 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu\/event\/thomas-piketty-capital-and-ideology\">Weatherhead Initiative on Global History<\/a> talk and give the annual <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/revolutions-and-inequalities-18th-c-21st-c\">Tanner<\/a> Lectures on Human Values on April 15. The English version of \u201cCapital and Ideology,\u201d translated by <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/000201-arthur-goldhammer\">Arthur Goldhammer<\/a>, the distinguished book translator and longtime CES affiliate, is due out March 10.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty, a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Paris School of Economics, spoke to the Gazette about his anxiously awaited new book.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q&A<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thomas Piketty<\/h3>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You write that inequality is not the result of economics or technological change, but is rooted in ideology and politics. How so and why is it important to understand its roots \u2014 how does that aid in its dismantling?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I do in this book is take a very long-run look at the inequality regime in a comparative perspective. I define \u201cinequality regime\u201d as the justification [used] for the structure of inequality and also the institutions \u2014 the legal system, the educational system, the fiscal system \u2014 that help sustain a certain level of equality or inequality in a given society. I look at the history of this inequality regime over a very long run, across many countries and regions of the world, and what I first observed is a lot of variation over time. You see very fast transformation, sometimes due to revolution, [like] the French Revolution. But also, Sweden used to be a very unequal country until the beginning of the 20th century. And then, following a very large social mobilization by trade unions and the Social Democratic party, Sweden became one of the most equal countries in history. You could say the U.S., after the Great Depression, also turned to a very progressive tax system and reduced its inequality enormously.<\/p>\n<p>And so, in all these historical experiences, what\u2019s very striking is the speed and the magnitude. If you had told people in Sweden in 1910 that the country was going to become a social democratic Sweden 20 years later, nobody would have believed it. The dominant groups always tend to be conservative and always tend to define the existing inequality as being natural, coming from some natural scheme or natural institutions or from rules that cannot be changed. But, in practice, what you see is something very different: The way inequality is organized can change very quickly. Sometimes it takes major shocks, including revolution and war, but it also happens very often in a peaceful manner like Sweden or the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>So this is the story I tell in the book, and it\u2019s important because I think it will be the same in the future. Nobody knows where change will come from \u2014 from an election, from social movement, the growing awareness of the climate crisis or other factors of change. But the idea that the current economic system will never change and we\u2019ll just continue with business as usual forever is just not convincing at all, especially in light of the rich political history of inequality regimes that I put forward in this book.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>As the gulf between the haves and the have nots continues to widen, the roiling debate over economic inequality has become a political prime mover in the U.S. and across Europe. French economist <a href=\"http:\/\/piketty.pse.ens.fr\/fr\/\">Thomas Piketty\u2019s<\/a> 2013 landmark analysis of Western economic inequality, \u201cCapital in the 21st Century,\u201d became a must-read in both popular and academic circles. Now, he\u2019s back with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980822\">Capital and Ideology<\/a>\u201d (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020), a global look at the history of the problem, how institutions and ideologies reinforce it, and how it can be remedied.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty will visit Harvard on Friday to give the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/\">Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies<\/a> (CES). He will return April 6 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu\/event\/thomas-piketty-capital-and-ideology\">Weatherhead Initiative on Global History<\/a> talk and give the annual <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/revolutions-and-inequalities-18th-c-21st-c\">Tanner<\/a> Lectures on Human Values on April 15. The English version of \u201cCapital and Ideology,\u201d translated by <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/000201-arthur-goldhammer\">Arthur Goldhammer<\/a>, the distinguished book translator and longtime CES affiliate, is due out March 10.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty, a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Paris School of Economics, spoke to the Gazette about his anxiously awaited new book.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q&A<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thomas Piketty<\/h3>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You write that inequality is not the result of economics or technological change, but is rooted in ideology and politics. How so and why is it important to understand its roots \u2014 how does that aid in its dismantling?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I do in this book is take a very long-run look at the inequality regime in a comparative perspective. I define \u201cinequality regime\u201d as the justification [used] for the structure of inequality and also the institutions \u2014 the legal system, the educational system, the fiscal system \u2014 that help sustain a certain level of equality or inequality in a given society. I look at the history of this inequality regime over a very long run, across many countries and regions of the world, and what I first observed is a lot of variation over time. You see very fast transformation, sometimes due to revolution, [like] the French Revolution. But also, Sweden used to be a very unequal country until the beginning of the 20th century. And then, following a very large social mobilization by trade unions and the Social Democratic party, Sweden became one of the most equal countries in history. You could say the U.S., after the Great Depression, also turned to a very progressive tax system and reduced its inequality enormously.<\/p>\n<p>And so, in all these historical experiences, what\u2019s very striking is the speed and the magnitude. If you had told people in Sweden in 1910 that the country was going to become a social democratic Sweden 20 years later, nobody would have believed it. The dominant groups always tend to be conservative and always tend to define the existing inequality as being natural, coming from some natural scheme or natural institutions or from rules that cannot be changed. But, in practice, what you see is something very different: The way inequality is organized can change very quickly. Sometimes it takes major shocks, including revolution and war, but it also happens very often in a peaceful manner like Sweden or the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>So this is the story I tell in the book, and it\u2019s important because I think it will be the same in the future. Nobody knows where change will come from \u2014 from an election, from social movement, the growing awareness of the climate crisis or other factors of change. But the idea that the current economic system will never change and we\u2019ll just continue with business as usual forever is just not convincing at all, especially in light of the rich political history of inequality regimes that I put forward in this book.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/quote","attrs":{"value":"","citation":null,"textAlign":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<p>\"It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system.\"<\/p>\n","innerContent":["<p>\"It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system.\"<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"<p>\"It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system.\"<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><\/blockquote>","innerContent":["<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">","<\/blockquote>"],"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\"It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system.\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You seem to have taken to heart some of the limitations of \u201cCapital in the 21st Century.\u201d One that you\u2019ve frequently acknowledged is the last book\u2019s Western-centric focus and what you\u2019ve called its \u201cblack box\u201d treatment of the political and ideological changes associated with inequality. How have you tried to rectify those shortcomings here?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> First, I show how the rise of inequality in Western societies was very much rooted in a system of world domination and of colonial domination and colonial appropriation. It\u2019s a theme that was present a little bit, but was not very well developed. So now, I insist on the importance of slave societies and post-slavery colonial societies in the formation of modern inequality. It played a very big role, and in particular, the large wealth portfolio of European society in the 19th century and early 20th century came from colonial wealth and colonial appropriation. It also played a big role in this [private] ownership society in the\u00a020th century. The international dimension and the colonial dimension of the inequality regime of the 19th century and early 20th century is very important in order to better understand the origin of the transformation that finally took place in the\u00a020th century.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the system of justification of inequality is also much more at the center of this book. The last part of this book is tied to the evolution of the electoral structure \u2014 who votes for the Democratic Party in the U.S., who votes for the Labour Party in Britain or for the Social Democratic Party in Germany or the Socialist Party in France. All of this changes [after] World War II. I show that these parties that were the parties of workers and had the highest electoral score among the lowest education group and the lowest income and wealth group, have actually become, over the past 40 or 50 years, the parties of the educated. I try to understand why and argue that this has to do with the ideology of these parties. The political platforms advocated by these parties have become less and less concerned with inequality and redistribution, or at least this is what I argue. This work is able to better go after the matter when it comes to the deep forces behind changes in inequality.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You seem to have taken to heart some of the limitations of \u201cCapital in the 21st Century.\u201d One that you\u2019ve frequently acknowledged is the last book\u2019s Western-centric focus and what you\u2019ve called its \u201cblack box\u201d treatment of the political and ideological changes associated with inequality. How have you tried to rectify those shortcomings here?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> First, I show how the rise of inequality in Western societies was very much rooted in a system of world domination and of colonial domination and colonial appropriation. It\u2019s a theme that was present a little bit, but was not very well developed. So now, I insist on the importance of slave societies and post-slavery colonial societies in the formation of modern inequality. It played a very big role, and in particular, the large wealth portfolio of European society in the 19th century and early 20th century came from colonial wealth and colonial appropriation. It also played a big role in this [private] ownership society in the\u00a020th century. The international dimension and the colonial dimension of the inequality regime of the 19th century and early 20th century is very important in order to better understand the origin of the transformation that finally took place in the\u00a020th century.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the system of justification of inequality is also much more at the center of this book. The last part of this book is tied to the evolution of the electoral structure \u2014 who votes for the Democratic Party in the U.S., who votes for the Labour Party in Britain or for the Social Democratic Party in Germany or the Socialist Party in France. All of this changes [after] World War II. I show that these parties that were the parties of workers and had the highest electoral score among the lowest education group and the lowest income and wealth group, have actually become, over the past 40 or 50 years, the parties of the educated. I try to understand why and argue that this has to do with the ideology of these parties. The political platforms advocated by these parties have become less and less concerned with inequality and redistribution, or at least this is what I argue. This work is able to better go after the matter when it comes to the deep forces behind changes in inequality.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You seem to have taken to heart some of the limitations of \u201cCapital in the 21st Century.\u201d One that you\u2019ve frequently acknowledged is the last book\u2019s Western-centric focus and what you\u2019ve called its \u201cblack box\u201d treatment of the political and ideological changes associated with inequality. How have you tried to rectify those shortcomings here?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> First, I show how the rise of inequality in Western societies was very much rooted in a system of world domination and of colonial domination and colonial appropriation. It\u2019s a theme that was present a little bit, but was not very well developed. So now, I insist on the importance of slave societies and post-slavery colonial societies in the formation of modern inequality. It played a very big role, and in particular, the large wealth portfolio of European society in the 19th century and early 20th century came from colonial wealth and colonial appropriation. It also played a big role in this [private] ownership society in the\u00a020th century. The international dimension and the colonial dimension of the inequality regime of the 19th century and early 20th century is very important in order to better understand the origin of the transformation that finally took place in the\u00a020th century.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the system of justification of inequality is also much more at the center of this book. The last part of this book is tied to the evolution of the electoral structure \u2014 who votes for the Democratic Party in the U.S., who votes for the Labour Party in Britain or for the Social Democratic Party in Germany or the Socialist Party in France. All of this changes [after] World War II. I show that these parties that were the parties of workers and had the highest electoral score among the lowest education group and the lowest income and wealth group, have actually become, over the past 40 or 50 years, the parties of the educated. I try to understand why and argue that this has to do with the ideology of these parties. The political platforms advocated by these parties have become less and less concerned with inequality and redistribution, or at least this is what I argue. This work is able to better go after the matter when it comes to the deep forces behind changes in inequality.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"wide","id":299199,"caption":"The share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018. Inequality increased everywhere, but the size of the increase varied sharply from country to country, at all levels of development. For example, it was greater in the United States than in Europe (enlarged European Union, 540 millions inhabitants) and greater in India than in China.","creditText":"Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology.et","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pikettylinechartwithtitle.jpg","alt":"Chart showing the share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018.","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pikettylinechartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"Chart showing the share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018.\" class=\"wp-image-299199\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018. Inequality increased everywhere, but the size of the increase varied sharply from country to country, at all levels of development. For example, it was greater in the United States than in Europe (enlarged European Union, 540 millions inhabitants) and greater in India than in China.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t","innerContent":["\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pikettylinechartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"Chart showing the share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018.\" class=\"wp-image-299199\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018. Inequality increased everywhere, but the size of the increase varied sharply from country to country, at all levels of development. For example, it was greater in the United States than in Europe (enlarged European Union, 540 millions inhabitants) and greater in India than in China.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"],"rendered":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pikettylinechartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"Chart showing the share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018.\" class=\"wp-image-299199\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">The share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018. Inequality increased everywhere, but the size of the increase varied sharply from country to country, at all levels of development. For example, it was greater in the United States than in Europe (enlarged European Union, 540 millions inhabitants) and greater in India than in China.\t\t\t<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology.et<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Much of current focus on inequality centers on the rise of right-wing populism and appeals to ethnic, religious, and national divisions. But you say the rise of elitism and the left\u2019s failure to offer a persuasive counter-ideology to right-wing populism deserves more scrutiny. Can you elaborate?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I mean is that in the post-War period, in the \u201950s and \u201960s, the Democratic Party in the U.S. and social democratic parties in Europe were able to convince voters with lower education, lower income, lower wage[s] that they are the platform for them. That, in effect, what ties them together, despite their differences \u2026 is a platform of educational expansion, workers\u2019 rights, Social Security, progressive taxation. [This] is what has made this coalition stick together. Then, what we see is that gradually over the past four decades, these parties have become the party of the educational elite. So while the right-wing parties and the center-right party are still the parties of the business elite or the high wealth elite \u2026 [W]e have moved from this class-based system to what I describe as a multi-elite system, where basically the educational elite votes for the Brahmin left and the wealthy elite votes for the merchant right or the business right. This rise of elitism, in effect, has left a lot of voters feeling abandoned [by] the main two parties, and I feel this has largely contributed to the rise of what is sometimes known as populism.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Much of current focus on inequality centers on the rise of right-wing populism and appeals to ethnic, religious, and national divisions. But you say the rise of elitism and the left\u2019s failure to offer a persuasive counter-ideology to right-wing populism deserves more scrutiny. Can you elaborate?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I mean is that in the post-War period, in the \u201950s and \u201960s, the Democratic Party in the U.S. and social democratic parties in Europe were able to convince voters with lower education, lower income, lower wage[s] that they are the platform for them. That, in effect, what ties them together, despite their differences \u2026 is a platform of educational expansion, workers\u2019 rights, Social Security, progressive taxation. [This] is what has made this coalition stick together. Then, what we see is that gradually over the past four decades, these parties have become the party of the educational elite. So while the right-wing parties and the center-right party are still the parties of the business elite or the high wealth elite \u2026 [W]e have moved from this class-based system to what I describe as a multi-elite system, where basically the educational elite votes for the Brahmin left and the wealthy elite votes for the merchant right or the business right. This rise of elitism, in effect, has left a lot of voters feeling abandoned [by] the main two parties, and I feel this has largely contributed to the rise of what is sometimes known as populism.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Much of current focus on inequality centers on the rise of right-wing populism and appeals to ethnic, religious, and national divisions. But you say the rise of elitism and the left\u2019s failure to offer a persuasive counter-ideology to right-wing populism deserves more scrutiny. Can you elaborate?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I mean is that in the post-War period, in the \u201950s and \u201960s, the Democratic Party in the U.S. and social democratic parties in Europe were able to convince voters with lower education, lower income, lower wage[s] that they are the platform for them. That, in effect, what ties them together, despite their differences \u2026 is a platform of educational expansion, workers\u2019 rights, Social Security, progressive taxation. [This] is what has made this coalition stick together. Then, what we see is that gradually over the past four decades, these parties have become the party of the educational elite. So while the right-wing parties and the center-right party are still the parties of the business elite or the high wealth elite \u2026 [W]e have moved from this class-based system to what I describe as a multi-elite system, where basically the educational elite votes for the Brahmin left and the wealthy elite votes for the merchant right or the business right. This rise of elitism, in effect, has left a lot of voters feeling abandoned [by] the main two parties, and I feel this has largely contributed to the rise of what is sometimes known as populism.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"wide","id":299308,"caption":"In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.","creditText":"Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pikettybarchartwithtitle.jpg","alt":"In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pikettybarchartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\" class=\"wp-image-299308\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t","innerContent":["\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pikettybarchartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\" class=\"wp-image-299308\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"],"rendered":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pikettybarchartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\" class=\"wp-image-299308\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\t\t\t<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>You propose a way forward that reinstitutes a progressive tax system that will fund something like a universal basic income. Broadly, what does that look like? How do you get the rich and powerful to give things up? And why was it important to you not just to document and analyze inequality, but to also offer a possible solution?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system. I think it\u2019s too easy for scholars and social scientists and economists and historians like myself <strong>\u2026<\/strong> just to describe or to talk about history and not to take a stand in the present and in the future. So I\u2019m trying to make an effort to deal with the future. People can either believe or come to their own conclusions from the historical material I present.<\/p>\n<p>What do I feel has the most promise for the future? There are two main ideas, one is social federalism and the other is participatory socialism. Social federalism is a view that if you want to keep globalization going and you want to avoid this retreat to nationalism and the frontier of the nation-state that we see in a number of countries, you need to organize globalization in a more social way. If you want to have international treaties between European countries and Canada and the U.S. and Latin America and Africa, these treaties cannot simply be about free trade and free capital flow. They need to set some target in terms of equitable growth and equitable development. So, how much you want to tax large international corporations [and] high wealth\/high income individuals? What kind of target do you want for carbon emissions? Free trade and free capital flows can be part of this new and more social international treaty that we need to organize globalization, but they can\u2019t be the first chapter of this treaty. They must be put to the service of higher goals, goals about sustainable development and equitable development, and they must be regulated. Technically, it\u2019s not so complicated. The issue is really not political and ideological. We\u2019ve been accustomed for several decades to treaties without any explicit fiscal or social policy. This has to change.<\/p>\n<p>Participatory socialism is the general objective of more \u201caccess\u201d to education. Educational justice is very important in terms of access to higher education. Today there\u2019s a lot of hyper criticism, not only in the U.S., but also in France and in Europe, that we don\u2019t set quantifiable and verifiable targets in terms of how children [from] lower [income] groups [gain] access to higher education, what kind of funding [they] have for higher education. The other big dimension is circulation of property, so I talk about \u201cinheritance for all.\u201d The idea is to use a progressive tax on wealth in order to finance [a] capital transfer to every young adult at the age of 25. This transfer is in effect, 120,000 euros [about $134,000] per person, [which is] about the level of medium wealth today in France or in the U.S. That will very much transform the ability of children from poor families or middle-class families to create their own firms. Just having this kind of property puts you in a different position in life in general \u2014 what kind of jobs, what kind of wage, do I need to accept? It transforms the basic structure of power in society and that\u2019s something very important. What I propose is not full equality; there will still be a lot of inequality. But this would make a big difference. The general idea is that not only the children of wealthy parents who have good ideas can create companies and participate in the economy. We need to rely on a much broader group of the population.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview has been edited for clarity and condensed for length.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><em>Friday's <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/thomaspikettylivestream\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will be viewable via livestream.<\/a><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>You propose a way forward that reinstitutes a progressive tax system that will fund something like a universal basic income. Broadly, what does that look like? How do you get the rich and powerful to give things up? And why was it important to you not just to document and analyze inequality, but to also offer a possible solution?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system. I think it\u2019s too easy for scholars and social scientists and economists and historians like myself <strong>\u2026<\/strong> just to describe or to talk about history and not to take a stand in the present and in the future. So I\u2019m trying to make an effort to deal with the future. People can either believe or come to their own conclusions from the historical material I present.<\/p>\n<p>What do I feel has the most promise for the future? There are two main ideas, one is social federalism and the other is participatory socialism. Social federalism is a view that if you want to keep globalization going and you want to avoid this retreat to nationalism and the frontier of the nation-state that we see in a number of countries, you need to organize globalization in a more social way. If you want to have international treaties between European countries and Canada and the U.S. and Latin America and Africa, these treaties cannot simply be about free trade and free capital flow. They need to set some target in terms of equitable growth and equitable development. So, how much you want to tax large international corporations [and] high wealth\/high income individuals? What kind of target do you want for carbon emissions? Free trade and free capital flows can be part of this new and more social international treaty that we need to organize globalization, but they can\u2019t be the first chapter of this treaty. They must be put to the service of higher goals, goals about sustainable development and equitable development, and they must be regulated. Technically, it\u2019s not so complicated. The issue is really not political and ideological. We\u2019ve been accustomed for several decades to treaties without any explicit fiscal or social policy. This has to change.<\/p>\n<p>Participatory socialism is the general objective of more \u201caccess\u201d to education. Educational justice is very important in terms of access to higher education. Today there\u2019s a lot of hyper criticism, not only in the U.S., but also in France and in Europe, that we don\u2019t set quantifiable and verifiable targets in terms of how children [from] lower [income] groups [gain] access to higher education, what kind of funding [they] have for higher education. The other big dimension is circulation of property, so I talk about \u201cinheritance for all.\u201d The idea is to use a progressive tax on wealth in order to finance [a] capital transfer to every young adult at the age of 25. This transfer is in effect, 120,000 euros [about $134,000] per person, [which is] about the level of medium wealth today in France or in the U.S. That will very much transform the ability of children from poor families or middle-class families to create their own firms. Just having this kind of property puts you in a different position in life in general \u2014 what kind of jobs, what kind of wage, do I need to accept? It transforms the basic structure of power in society and that\u2019s something very important. What I propose is not full equality; there will still be a lot of inequality. But this would make a big difference. The general idea is that not only the children of wealthy parents who have good ideas can create companies and participate in the economy. We need to rely on a much broader group of the population.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview has been edited for clarity and condensed for length.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><em>Friday's <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/thomaspikettylivestream\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will be viewable via livestream.<\/a><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>You propose a way forward that reinstitutes a progressive tax system that will fund something like a universal basic income. Broadly, what does that look like? How do you get the rich and powerful to give things up? And why was it important to you not just to document and analyze inequality, but to also offer a possible solution?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system. I think it\u2019s too easy for scholars and social scientists and economists and historians like myself <strong>\u2026<\/strong> just to describe or to talk about history and not to take a stand in the present and in the future. So I\u2019m trying to make an effort to deal with the future. People can either believe or come to their own conclusions from the historical material I present.<\/p>\n<p>What do I feel has the most promise for the future? There are two main ideas, one is social federalism and the other is participatory socialism. Social federalism is a view that if you want to keep globalization going and you want to avoid this retreat to nationalism and the frontier of the nation-state that we see in a number of countries, you need to organize globalization in a more social way. If you want to have international treaties between European countries and Canada and the U.S. and Latin America and Africa, these treaties cannot simply be about free trade and free capital flow. They need to set some target in terms of equitable growth and equitable development. So, how much you want to tax large international corporations [and] high wealth\/high income individuals? What kind of target do you want for carbon emissions? Free trade and free capital flows can be part of this new and more social international treaty that we need to organize globalization, but they can\u2019t be the first chapter of this treaty. They must be put to the service of higher goals, goals about sustainable development and equitable development, and they must be regulated. Technically, it\u2019s not so complicated. The issue is really not political and ideological. We\u2019ve been accustomed for several decades to treaties without any explicit fiscal or social policy. This has to change.<\/p>\n<p>Participatory socialism is the general objective of more \u201caccess\u201d to education. Educational justice is very important in terms of access to higher education. Today there\u2019s a lot of hyper criticism, not only in the U.S., but also in France and in Europe, that we don\u2019t set quantifiable and verifiable targets in terms of how children [from] lower [income] groups [gain] access to higher education, what kind of funding [they] have for higher education. The other big dimension is circulation of property, so I talk about \u201cinheritance for all.\u201d The idea is to use a progressive tax on wealth in order to finance [a] capital transfer to every young adult at the age of 25. This transfer is in effect, 120,000 euros [about $134,000] per person, [which is] about the level of medium wealth today in France or in the U.S. That will very much transform the ability of children from poor families or middle-class families to create their own firms. Just having this kind of property puts you in a different position in life in general \u2014 what kind of jobs, what kind of wage, do I need to accept? It transforms the basic structure of power in society and that\u2019s something very important. What I propose is not full equality; there will still be a lot of inequality. But this would make a big difference. The general idea is that not only the children of wealthy parents who have good ideas can create companies and participate in the economy. We need to rely on a much broader group of the population.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview has been edited for clarity and condensed for length.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><em>Friday's <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/thomaspikettylivestream\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will be viewable via livestream.<\/a><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\n\t\r\n\r\n\t\n\t\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n","\r\n","\r\n\t","\n\t\r\n","\r\n\t","\n\t\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>As the gulf between the haves and the have nots continues to widen, the roiling debate over economic inequality has become a political prime mover in the U.S. and across Europe. French economist <a href=\"http:\/\/piketty.pse.ens.fr\/fr\/\">Thomas Piketty\u2019s<\/a> 2013 landmark analysis of Western economic inequality, \u201cCapital in the 21st Century,\u201d became a must-read in both popular and academic circles. Now, he\u2019s back with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980822\">Capital and Ideology<\/a>\u201d (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020), a global look at the history of the problem, how institutions and ideologies reinforce it, and how it can be remedied.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty will visit Harvard on Friday to give the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/\">Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies<\/a> (CES). He will return April 6 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu\/event\/thomas-piketty-capital-and-ideology\">Weatherhead Initiative on Global History<\/a> talk and give the annual <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/revolutions-and-inequalities-18th-c-21st-c\">Tanner<\/a> Lectures on Human Values on April 15. The English version of \u201cCapital and Ideology,\u201d translated by <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/000201-arthur-goldhammer\">Arthur Goldhammer<\/a>, the distinguished book translator and longtime CES affiliate, is due out March 10.<\/p>\n<p>Piketty, a professor at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and the Paris School of Economics, spoke to the Gazette about his anxiously awaited new book.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q&A<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thomas Piketty<\/h3>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You write that inequality is not the result of economics or technological change, but is rooted in ideology and politics. How so and why is it important to understand its roots \u2014 how does that aid in its dismantling?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I do in this book is take a very long-run look at the inequality regime in a comparative perspective. I define \u201cinequality regime\u201d as the justification [used] for the structure of inequality and also the institutions \u2014 the legal system, the educational system, the fiscal system \u2014 that help sustain a certain level of equality or inequality in a given society. I look at the history of this inequality regime over a very long run, across many countries and regions of the world, and what I first observed is a lot of variation over time. You see very fast transformation, sometimes due to revolution, [like] the French Revolution. But also, Sweden used to be a very unequal country until the beginning of the 20th century. And then, following a very large social mobilization by trade unions and the Social Democratic party, Sweden became one of the most equal countries in history. You could say the U.S., after the Great Depression, also turned to a very progressive tax system and reduced its inequality enormously.<\/p>\n<p>And so, in all these historical experiences, what\u2019s very striking is the speed and the magnitude. If you had told people in Sweden in 1910 that the country was going to become a social democratic Sweden 20 years later, nobody would have believed it. The dominant groups always tend to be conservative and always tend to define the existing inequality as being natural, coming from some natural scheme or natural institutions or from rules that cannot be changed. But, in practice, what you see is something very different: The way inequality is organized can change very quickly. Sometimes it takes major shocks, including revolution and war, but it also happens very often in a peaceful manner like Sweden or the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>So this is the story I tell in the book, and it\u2019s important because I think it will be the same in the future. Nobody knows where change will come from \u2014 from an election, from social movement, the growing awareness of the climate crisis or other factors of change. But the idea that the current economic system will never change and we\u2019ll just continue with business as usual forever is just not convincing at all, especially in light of the rich political history of inequality regimes that I put forward in this book.<\/p>\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\"It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system.\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You seem to have taken to heart some of the limitations of \u201cCapital in the 21st Century.\u201d One that you\u2019ve frequently acknowledged is the last book\u2019s Western-centric focus and what you\u2019ve called its \u201cblack box\u201d treatment of the political and ideological changes associated with inequality. How have you tried to rectify those shortcomings here?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> First, I show how the rise of inequality in Western societies was very much rooted in a system of world domination and of colonial domination and colonial appropriation. It\u2019s a theme that was present a little bit, but was not very well developed. So now, I insist on the importance of slave societies and post-slavery colonial societies in the formation of modern inequality. It played a very big role, and in particular, the large wealth portfolio of European society in the 19th century and early 20th century came from colonial wealth and colonial appropriation. It also played a big role in this [private] ownership society in the\u00a020th century. The international dimension and the colonial dimension of the inequality regime of the 19th century and early 20th century is very important in order to better understand the origin of the transformation that finally took place in the\u00a020th century.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the system of justification of inequality is also much more at the center of this book. The last part of this book is tied to the evolution of the electoral structure \u2014 who votes for the Democratic Party in the U.S., who votes for the Labour Party in Britain or for the Social Democratic Party in Germany or the Socialist Party in France. All of this changes [after] World War II. I show that these parties that were the parties of workers and had the highest electoral score among the lowest education group and the lowest income and wealth group, have actually become, over the past 40 or 50 years, the parties of the educated. I try to understand why and argue that this has to do with the ideology of these parties. The political platforms advocated by these parties have become less and less concerned with inequality and redistribution, or at least this is what I argue. This work is able to better go after the matter when it comes to the deep forces behind changes in inequality.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pikettylinechartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"Chart showing the share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018.\" class=\"wp-image-299199\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">The share of the top decile (the 10 percent of highest earners) in total national income ranged from 26 to 34 percent in different parts of the world and from 34 to 56 percent in 2018. Inequality increased everywhere, but the size of the increase varied sharply from country to country, at all levels of development. For example, it was greater in the United States than in Europe (enlarged European Union, 540 millions inhabitants) and greater in India than in China.\t\t\t<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology.et<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Much of current focus on inequality centers on the rise of right-wing populism and appeals to ethnic, religious, and national divisions. But you say the rise of elitism and the left\u2019s failure to offer a persuasive counter-ideology to right-wing populism deserves more scrutiny. Can you elaborate?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong><\/strong> What I mean is that in the post-War period, in the \u201950s and \u201960s, the Democratic Party in the U.S. and social democratic parties in Europe were able to convince voters with lower education, lower income, lower wage[s] that they are the platform for them. That, in effect, what ties them together, despite their differences \u2026 is a platform of educational expansion, workers\u2019 rights, Social Security, progressive taxation. [This] is what has made this coalition stick together. Then, what we see is that gradually over the past four decades, these parties have become the party of the educational elite. So while the right-wing parties and the center-right party are still the parties of the business elite or the high wealth elite \u2026 [W]e have moved from this class-based system to what I describe as a multi-elite system, where basically the educational elite votes for the Brahmin left and the wealthy elite votes for the merchant right or the business right. This rise of elitism, in effect, has left a lot of voters feeling abandoned [by] the main two parties, and I feel this has largely contributed to the rise of what is sometimes known as populism.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/pikettybarchartwithtitle.jpg\" alt=\"In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\" class=\"wp-image-299308\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">In 2018, the share of the top decile (the highest 10 percent of earners) in national income was 34 percent in Europe, 41 percent in China, 46 percent in Russia, 48 percent in the United States, 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 55 percent in India, 56 percent in Brazil, and 64 percent in the Middle East.\t\t\t<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Sources and series: see piketty.pse.ens.fr\/ideology<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>You propose a way forward that reinstitutes a progressive tax system that will fund something like a universal basic income. Broadly, what does that look like? How do you get the rich and powerful to give things up? And why was it important to you not just to document and analyze inequality, but to also offer a possible solution?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>PIKETTY:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s everybody\u2019s job and responsibility to take part in this conversation about changing the economic system. I think it\u2019s too easy for scholars and social scientists and economists and historians like myself <strong>\u2026<\/strong> just to describe or to talk about history and not to take a stand in the present and in the future. So I\u2019m trying to make an effort to deal with the future. People can either believe or come to their own conclusions from the historical material I present.<\/p>\n<p>What do I feel has the most promise for the future? There are two main ideas, one is social federalism and the other is participatory socialism. Social federalism is a view that if you want to keep globalization going and you want to avoid this retreat to nationalism and the frontier of the nation-state that we see in a number of countries, you need to organize globalization in a more social way. If you want to have international treaties between European countries and Canada and the U.S. and Latin America and Africa, these treaties cannot simply be about free trade and free capital flow. They need to set some target in terms of equitable growth and equitable development. So, how much you want to tax large international corporations [and] high wealth\/high income individuals? What kind of target do you want for carbon emissions? Free trade and free capital flows can be part of this new and more social international treaty that we need to organize globalization, but they can\u2019t be the first chapter of this treaty. They must be put to the service of higher goals, goals about sustainable development and equitable development, and they must be regulated. Technically, it\u2019s not so complicated. The issue is really not political and ideological. We\u2019ve been accustomed for several decades to treaties without any explicit fiscal or social policy. This has to change.<\/p>\n<p>Participatory socialism is the general objective of more \u201caccess\u201d to education. Educational justice is very important in terms of access to higher education. Today there\u2019s a lot of hyper criticism, not only in the U.S., but also in France and in Europe, that we don\u2019t set quantifiable and verifiable targets in terms of how children [from] lower [income] groups [gain] access to higher education, what kind of funding [they] have for higher education. The other big dimension is circulation of property, so I talk about \u201cinheritance for all.\u201d The idea is to use a progressive tax on wealth in order to finance [a] capital transfer to every young adult at the age of 25. This transfer is in effect, 120,000 euros [about $134,000] per person, [which is] about the level of medium wealth today in France or in the U.S. That will very much transform the ability of children from poor families or middle-class families to create their own firms. Just having this kind of property puts you in a different position in life in general \u2014 what kind of jobs, what kind of wage, do I need to accept? It transforms the basic structure of power in society and that\u2019s something very important. What I propose is not full equality; there will still be a lot of inequality. But this would make a big difference. The general idea is that not only the children of wealthy parents who have good ideas can create companies and participate in the economy. We need to rely on a much broader group of the population.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview has been edited for clarity and condensed for length.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><em>Friday's <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/events\/2020\/03\/hoffmann-lecture-france-piketty\">Stanley Hoffmann Lecture on France and the World<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ces.fas.harvard.edu\/thomaspikettylivestream\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will be viewable via livestream.<\/a><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":167328,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/03\/explaining-capital\/","url_meta":{"origin":297568,"position":0},"title":"Explaining \u2018Capital\u2019","author":"harvardgazette","date":"March 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Acclaimed French economist Thomas Piketty discusses his landmark text, \u201cCapital in the Twenty-First Century,\u201d one year after its publication in English.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/030615_piketty_076_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/030615_piketty_076_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/030615_piketty_076_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":340725,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2022\/03\/nobel-winning-economist-says-inequality-breeds-discontent\/","url_meta":{"origin":297568,"position":1},"title":"Joseph Stiglitz warned of wealth gap in 2012 \u2014 and it\u2019s gotten worse","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"March 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Joseph E. Stiglitz discusses how inequality has affected the country over the last decade during an HKS lecture Monday evening.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, left, gives the 2022 Stone lecture on inequality with visiting HKS prof David Autor.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032822_Stiglitz_174.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032822_Stiglitz_174.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032822_Stiglitz_174.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/032822_Stiglitz_174.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":308506,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2020\/09\/arthur-goldhammer-on-the-art-of-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":297568,"position":2},"title":"In translation, he found his raison d\u2019\u00eatre","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"September 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Thomas Piketty translator Arthur Goldhammer talks about his circuitous route to success in a field he never studied.","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts & Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Arthur Goldhammer.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Art_Goldhammer_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Art_Goldhammer_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Art_Goldhammer_2500.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Art_Goldhammer_2500.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":178416,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/02\/the-costs-of-inequality-when-a-fair-shake-isnt\/","url_meta":{"origin":297568,"position":3},"title":"The costs of inequality: When a fair shake isn\u2019t","author":"harvardgazette","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Inequality is rampant in American life and is a key topic in the presidential campaign, but Harvard faculty members have been exploring its many facets for decades, and suggesting some solutions.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/overview-inequality_1120x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/overview-inequality_1120x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/overview-inequality_1120x600.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/overview-inequality_1120x600.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":417379,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2025\/10\/rebutting-myths-of-inequality\/","url_meta":{"origin":297568,"position":4},"title":"Rebutting \u2018myths of inequality\u2019","author":"Terry Murphy","date":"October 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Former veteran legislator, economist Phil Gramm argues unequal distribution of wealth inevitable; policy to engineer level playing field is mistake","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Senator Phil Gramm and Lawrence Summers.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/093025_SummersGramm_298-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/093025_SummersGramm_298-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/093025_SummersGramm_298-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/093025_SummersGramm_298-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":378622,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2024\/02\/need-for-moral-revolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":297568,"position":5},"title":"Need for moral revolution","author":"harvardgazette","date":"February 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Social scientist, former Biden official Alondra Nelson says work of new Center for Race, Inequality and Social Equity can help shape policy, progress","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alondra Nelson.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/020124_CRISES_147.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/020124_CRISES_147.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/020124_CRISES_147.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/020124_CRISES_147.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131912115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297568"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299312,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297568\/revisions\/299312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297568"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=297568"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=297568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}