There is one great advantage to being an academic economist in France: here, economists are not highly respected in the academic and intellectual world or by political and financial elites. Hence they must set aside their contempt for other disciplines and their absurd claim to greater scientific legitimacy, despite the fact that they know almost nothing about anything.
Thomas PikettyIt's not Utopian to believe that we can create a global registry of financial assets so we know who owns what in different countries.
Thomas PikettyDas Kapital, I think, is very difficult to read, and for me, it was not very influential.
Thomas PikettyThe principal mechanism for convergence at the international as well as the domestic level is the diffusion of knowledge.
Thomas PikettyDemocracy will never be supplanted by a republic of expertsโand that is a very good thing.
Thomas PikettyContrary 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.
Thomas Piketty