While I don’t claim to fully grasp everything Piketty is saying in Capital in the Twenty First Century, it is apparent from my first reading of the book that he’s left out a few important historical facts about the origins and growth of the world capitalist system. The biggest among them are the racial and colonial means by which Western European nations and the United States climbed to the top of the global capitalist system, enriching themselves with levels of wealth equivalent in value to many years of national income. Considering some of these facts would, in my mind, alter some of the big picture statistical series Piketty uses to make his points, and might also alter his conclusions about what is to be done to reduce inequality and democratize the economy. Take Africa, for example.
full: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/28/colonization-slavery-and-plunder/ _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
