In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown and British Politics and Policy at LSE’s editor Joel Suss, C discusses
the rise in income and wealth inequality outlined in his book, Capital
in the Twenty-First Century, and what policies should be adopted to
prevent us returning to the kind of extreme levels of inequality
experienced in Europe prior to the First World War. Professor Piketty recently gave a lecture at the LSE, the video of which can be seen online here.
Your research
has shown that inequality is rising and that without government action
this trend is likely to continue. However, are we correct to assume that
inequality is a fundamentally negative development in terms of its
consequences on society?
There is no problem with
inequality per se. In actual fact, up to a point inequality is fine and
perhaps even useful with respect to innovation and growth. The problem
is when inequality becomes so extreme that it no longer becomes useful
for growth. When inequality reaches a certain point it often leads to
the perpetuation of inequality over time across generations, as well as
to a lack of mobility within society. Moreover, extreme inequality can
be problematic for democratic institutions because it has the potential
to lead to extremely unequal access to political power and the ability
for citizens to make their voice heard.
Read more:Why We Don’t Need 19th Century Inequality To Generate Growth - Social Europe Journal
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