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Piketty on Growth and Distribution

Author

Listed:
  • Joan R. Rovira

    (Barcelona Chamber of Commerce)

Abstract

In his book Capital in the Twenty-First CenturyThomas Piketty combines two distinct theories to explain the stylized facts of growth and distribution in capitalist economies. The first is an analysis of the concentration of inherited wealth driven by the difference between the rate of return on capital and the rate of growth of national income. The second is essentially the neoclassical growth model with a constant (net) saving rate and an elasticity of substitution between capital and labour greater than one. I argue that for these two theories to be mutually consistent, in a long-run framework in which financial wealth converges in value with non-financial capital, the interdependence between the rates of growth and return at the aggregate level must be recognized. Since in Capital the rates of growth and return are assumed to be independently given, I show that Piketty has built a fundamentally over-determined, inconsistent analysis of growth and distribution. I also show that Piketty’s approach diverges in fundamental ways from classical, neoclassical and post-Keynesian models of growth and distribution, and in particular from the way they deal with the rates of growth and return in balanced conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan R. Rovira, 2015. "Piketty on Growth and Distribution," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 214(3), pages 91-114, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:hpe:journl:y:2015:v:214:i:3:p:91-114
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "Capital is Back: Wealth-Income Ratios in Rich Countries 1700–2010," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1255-1310.
    2. Piketty, Thomas & Zucman, Gabriel, 2014. "Wealth and Inheritance in the Long Run," CEPR Discussion Papers 10072, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Neri Salvadori (ed.), 2003. "Old and New Growth Theories," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2806.
    4. Myron J. Gordon & Eli Shapiro, 1956. "Capital Equipment Analysis: The Required Rate of Profit," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 102-110, October.
    5. Piketty, Thomas & Saez, Emmanuel, 2012. "A Theory of Optimal Capital Taxation," CEPR Discussion Papers 8946, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Branko Milanovic, 2014. "The Return of "Patrimonial Capitalism": A Review of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(2), pages 519-534, June.
    7. Milanovic, Branko, 2013. "The return of “patrimonial capitalism”: review of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st century," MPRA Paper 52384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. J. v. Neumann, 1945. "A Model of General Economic Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    income and wealth distribution; economic growth; capitalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General

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