After Piketty

Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is the most widely discussed work of economics in recent history, selling millions of copies in dozens of languages. But are its analyses of inequality and economic growth on target? Where should researchers go from here in exploring the ideas Piketty pushed to the forefront of global conversation? A cast of economists and other social scientists tackle these questions in dialogue with Piketty, in what is sure to be a much-debated book in its own right. After Piketty opens with a discussion by Arthur Goldhammer, the book’s translator, of the reasons for Capital’s phenomenal success, followed by the published reviews of Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Robert Solow. The rest of the book is devoted to newly commissioned essays that interrogate Piketty’s arguments. Suresh Naidu and other contributors ask whether Piketty said enough about power, slavery, and the complex nature of capital. Laura Tyson and Michael Spence consider the impact of technology on inequality. Heather Boushey, Branko Milanovic, and others consider topics ranging from gender to trends in the global South. Emmanuel Saez lays out an agenda for future research on inequality, while a variety of essayists examine the book’s implications for the social sciences more broadly. Piketty replies to these questions in a substantial concluding chapter. An indispensable interdisciplinary work, After Piketty does not shy away from the seemingly intractable problems that made Capital in the Twenty-First Century so compelling for so many.

Introduction: Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Three Years Later [J. Bradford DeLong, Heather Boushey, and Marshall Steinbaum] I. Reception 1. The Piketty Phenomenon [Arthur Goldhammer] 2. Thomas Piketty Is Right [Robert M. Solow] 3. Why We’re in a New Gilded Age [Paul Krugman] II. Conceptions of Capital 4. What’s Wrong with Capital in the Twenty-First Century’s Model? [Devesh Raval] 5. A Political Economy Take on W / Y [Suresh Naidu] 6. The Ubiquitous Nature of Slave Capital [Daina Ramey Berry] 7. Human Capital and Wealth before and after Capital in the Twenty-First Century [Eric R. Nielsen] 8. Exploring the Effects of Technology on Income and Wealth Inequality [Laura Tyson and Michael Spence] 9. Income Inequality, Wage Determination, and the Fissured Workplace [David Weil] III. Dimensions of Inequality 10. Increasing Capital Income Share and Its Effect on Personal Income Inequality [Branko Milanovic] 11. Global Inequality [Christoph Lakner] 12. The Geographies of Capital in the Twenty-First Century: Inequality, Political Economy, and Space [Gareth A. Jones] 13. The Research Agenda after Capital in the Twenty-First Century [Emmanuel Saez] 14. Macro Models of Wealth Inequality [Mariacristina De Nardi, Giulio Fella, and Fang Yang] 15. A Feminist Interpretation of Patrimonial Capitalism [Heather Boushey] 16. What Does Rising Inequality Mean For the Macroeconomy? [Mark Zandi] 17. Rising Inequality and Economic Stability [Salvatore Morelli] IV. The Political Economy of Capital and Capitalism 18. Inequality and the Rise of Social Democracy: An Ideological History [Marshall I. Steinbaum] 19. The Legal Constitution of Capitalism [David Singh Grewal] 20. The Historical Origins of Global Inequality [Ellora Derenoncourt] 21. Everywhere and Nowhere: Politics in Capital in the Twenty-First Century [Elisabeth Jacobs] V. Piketty Responds 22. Toward a Reconciliation between Economics and the Social Sciences [Thomas Piketty] Notes Acknowledgments Index