Wealth is so concentrated that a large segment of society is virtually unaware of its existence.

Das Kapital, I think, is very difficult to read, and for me, it was not very influential.

Contrary to a tenacious myth, France is not owned by California pension funds or the Bank of China, any more than the United States belongs to Japanese and German investors. The fear of getting into such a predicament is so strong today that fantasy often outstrips reality. The reality is that inequality with respect to capital is a far greater domestic issue than it is an international one.

The democratic ideal has always been related to a moderate level of inequality. I think one big reason why electoral democracy flourished in 19th century America better than 19th century Europe is because you had more equal distribution of wealth in America.

The principal mechanism for convergence at the international as well as the domestic level is the diffusion of knowledge.

Over a long period of time, the main force in favor of greater equality has been the diffusion of knowledge and skills.

We know too little about global wealth dynamics, so we need international transmission of bank information.