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P iketty in the long run
Author(s) -
Cowell Frank A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12108
Subject(s) - economics , distribution (mathematics) , inequality , distribution of wealth , wealth distribution , neoclassical economics , contrast (vision) , income distribution , positive economics , microeconomics , computer science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , artificial intelligence
I examine the idea of ‘the long run’ in P iketty (2014) and related works. In contrast to simplistic interpretations of long‐run models of income‐ and wealth‐distribution P iketty (2014) draws on a rich economic analysis that models the intra‐ and inter‐generational processes that underly the development of the wealth distribution. These processes inevitably involve both market and non‐market mechanisms. To understand this approach, and to isolate the impact of different social and economic factors on inequality in the long run, we use the concept of an equilibrium distribution. However the long‐run analysis of policy should not presume that there is an inherent tendency for the wealth distribution to approach equilibrium.