We must turn the page on the public perceptions of finance A company needs to stand for something more than making money. Sustainability matters more than profit. The mission should be a lasting contribution to society that finds a balance between all stakeholders. Those aren’t the words of a pious left-wing hand-wringer but of John McFarlane, chairman of Barclays, in an anthology of writing published this week [...]
Greek debt crisis: Germany shouldn’t lecture Greece – it never repaid its own debts, argues Thomas Piketty European conservatives, particularly in Germany “are about to destroy Europe and the European idea” over their demands to make Greece repay its debt, economist Thomas Piketty has said. Speaking with German newspaper Die Zeit, later translated on Medium, the outspoken economist claimed it was “a joke” that Germany was demanding Greece repay the €1.6bn [...]
Thomas Piketty and Russell Brand named among the world’s top 10 “thinkers” It seems Russell Brand's lectures about the many advantages of not voting were more than just the fevered rantings of a "pound shop Ben Elton". The comedian-cum-"revolutionary" has just been listed among the world's top 10 world thinkers. It turns out someone's actually taking him seriously… even though it wasn't that long ago that the [...]
Thomas Piketty: Anti-austerity parties are good for Europe January 12, 2015 Economist Thomas Piketty's latest argument that the increased popularity of anti-austerity parties is actually "good news for Europe" will no-doubt rile many. He took the world by storm last year with the publication of Capital in the 21st Century which argued for a global, progressive tax of capital to combat increasing equality. It's attracted attention (and criticism) [...]
Thomas Piketty rejects France’s Legion of Honour award January 1, 2015 France's rock star economist Thomas Piketty has turned down France's highest state honour because, in his view, it is not the role of the government to dispense these kinds of awards. The economist made waves in 2014 and topped the Amazon bestseller list with his book Capital in the 21st Century, which postulated that inequality [...]
Tax-cutting guru Arthur Laffer delivers stinging verdict on Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century December 8, 2014 While the initial excitement surrounding Thomas Piketty's treatise Capital in the 21st Century may have subsided, its impact endures – and now one of the most renowned free-market economists has sought to reignite the debate. After receiving a wave of adulation, the book came under withering assault for its use of statistics, data and methodology. [...]
Why Thomas Piketty should back high banker pay – CNBC Comment October 27, 2014 With reporting season kicking off today, cue the usual brouhaha over how much those greedy bankers are getting. But maybe it’s worth pausing a moment to take a lesson or two from the world of high finance. True, official statistics show that financiers have enjoyed a 27 per cent wage rise since the start of [...]
Gates is picky but still praises Piketty October 15, 2014 MICROSOFT founder Bill Gates has drawn attention to what he considers some “important flaws” in Thomas Piketty’s best-selling book, Capital in the 21st Century. In a review of the French economist’s controversial book on his blog, Gates said while he agreed with several points the author had raised, he emphasised that Piketty was wrong to [...]
Bill Gates: Thomas Piketty “does not give a full picture of how wealth is created” October 15, 2014 One of the world's richest men has given his analysis on the best-selling treatise on equality, Capital in the 21st Century, written by French economist Thomas Piketty. Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates said in a blog post that he agreed with several points highlighted in the controversial book. Among these were that high levels of inequality [...]
Forget Piketty: How Sweden combined wealth and equality through capitalism August 27, 2014 SWEDEN continues to be one of the countries others look to for an answer to this fundamental question of our times: how can a country successfully combine increasing prosperity with a relatively egalitarian distribution? The French economist Thomas Piketty provided part of an answer in his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, in which he [...]