Capital Eats the World
Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century shows that not everything in mainstream economics is worthless.
In their essay last fall on the state of economics, Seth Ackerman and Mike Beggs charged that today’s mainstream is irredeemably captured by conservative ideology. The good news is they’re wrong — Piketty’s work testifies to that.
Contemporary mainstream economics is a politically broad tent, and has a lot to contribute to economic analysis. But it needs to be struggled with, as many have in the debate surrounding Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
Every economics student learns the “Kaldor facts” of economic growth. One of these is that the share of national income going to capital has a long-run tendency to stay constant.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.