real-world economics review, issue no. 103 subscribe for free
Book Review Thomas Picketty A Brief History of Equality Cambridge, Belknap Press, 288 pages ISBN 978-0674273559 Junaid Jahangir [MacEwan University, Canada] Copyright: Junaid Jahangir, 2023
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The issue of inequality has received attention from top economists, whose voices have been projected through the book edited by Blanchard and Rodrik (2021). The editors make a strong case by arguing that economists should be at the forefront of combating inequality instead of ( ( emphasizes addressing inequality as a pressing issue, stating that the Top 1% instigate narratives in their favour through think tanks and policy institutes. He proposes policies to combat inequality including guaranteed annual income, raising the top tax rates, and supporting higher wages. However, Piketty seems to have had the greatest impact on highlighting the issue of inequality, especially in mainstream newspapers, where his work has been challenged (Grisold and Theine, 2020). Piketty (2021) counters the mainstream, arguing that if we keep stating that it is impossible to make the richest individuals pay, we run the risk of future d by the well-
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Piketty (2022) sustains this line of thought by providing an abridged reflection of his voluminous work over the last two decades. In line with Earle, Moran, and Ward-Perkins (2017), he states ( loitation of natural ( existing institutions that stoke inequality and oppression, it is much harder to agree on ( in terms of combating inequality, he highlights access to education and healthcare, progressive taxes and wealth redistribution, and power ( economic issues to experts, links capitalism with exploitation, and supports access to education and healthcare, progressive taxes and wealth redistribution, and power sharing with firm employees to combat inequality. In Chapter 1, he critiques the concept of the GDP, stating that it does not account for the depletion of natural resources or the inequality of income distribution and that even measures that account for them are problematic, as they provide the impression that damage can be ( -24). He adds that a majority of those who contribute the greatest to carbon emissions reside in North America, whereas a majority of those who contribute the least reside in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where they experience the 128