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Inequality as a Danger to Democracy: Reflections on Piketty's Warning
Author(s) -
Lakoff Sanford
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
political science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1538-165X
pISSN - 0032-3195
DOI - 10.1002/polq.12363
Subject(s) - democracy , inequality , politics , political philosophy , political science , sociology , social science , law , mathematical analysis , mathematics
“BOOKS THAT REPRESENT THE LAST WORD on a topic are important,” the economist Lawrence H. Summers observed of Thomas Piketty’s Capital. “Books that represent one of the first words are even more important.” Drawing on his own prodigious research and that of colleagues, Piketty has assembled a battery of economic data from the past several centuries dispelling the “fairy tale” that “a rising tide lifts all boats” (lately revised to read, “a rising tide lifts all yachts”). His warning deserves to be taken seriously, even though, as he acknowledges, trend is not destiny and public policies with respect to taxation, regulation, and governmental investment can alter the trajectory. Given the trend that Piketty and others have pointed to, it is hardly surprising that President Barack Obama has