So, I finished Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the 21st Century"

[Roland99]

Kinda cheated by using the Audible version for the last third or so

But, wow....that book just freakin' NAILS IT! And his solution of a tax on capital makes SO MUCH SENSE. Think about it. We pay taxes on automobiles. We pay taxes on property. We pay taxes on capital gains (albeit, not enough). Why not taxes on all capital? His proposal of what is really a minute percentage would actually help but he's right in that it would need to be a nearly global attempt or else the wealthy would just move capital around or divest of capital held in the U.S. and seek investments elsewhere (esp. financial instruments)


My follow up is going to be this:

Our Kids
The American Dream in Crisis
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Our-Kids/Robert-D-Putnam/9781442387553?rmid=20150318_Audio_MarchA&rrid=3498916

A groundbreaking examination of the growing inequality gap from the bestselling author of Bowling Alone: why fewer Americans today have the opportunity for upward mobility.

It’s the American dream: get a good education, work hard, buy a house, and achieve prosperity and success. This is the America we believe in—a nation of opportunity, constrained only by ability and effort. But during the last twenty-five years we have seen a disturbing “opportunity gap” emerge. Americans have always believed in equality of opportunity, the idea that all kids, regardless of their family background, should have a decent chance to improve their lot in life. Now, this central tenet of the American dream seems no longer true or at the least, much less true than it was.

Robert Putnam—about whom The Economist said, “his scholarship is wide-ranging, his intelligence luminous, his tone modest, his prose unpretentious and frequently funny”—offers a personal but also authoritative look at this new American crisis. Putnam begins with his high school class of 1959 in Port Clinton, Ohio. By and large the vast majority of those students—“our kids”—went on to lives better than those of their parents. But their children and grandchildren have had harder lives amid diminishing prospects. Putnam tells the tale of lessening opportunity through poignant life stories of rich and poor kids from cities and suburbs across the country, drawing on a formidable body of research done especially for this book.

Our Kids is a rare combination of individual testimony and rigorous evidence. Putnam provides a disturbing account of the American dream that should initiate a deep examination of the future of our country.

I'm intrigued to see a series of anecdotal evidence of the widening gap and the struggles the non-wealthy have in trying to "make it".

[Bradical79]

1. Yeah, I've had that on my wishlist for awhile

Though my knowledge of economics is pretty weak. I got through part of an economics class, but found it confusing before having to drop it for work :-P

[Roland99]

2. It's a lot of figures and economic concepts.

some of the discussions about this set of percentages and that over this and that timeframe started blurring together. I got the Audible version via a credit I had with them and would listen to it while reading along on my Kindle Paperwhite and that helped a lot.

[murielm99]

4. My knowledge of economics is weak, too.

But this book is so clearly written, the charts and graphs are so instructive, that reading it was easy. Also, the author summarizes what he has covered before he goes on.

He makes so much sense that by the time I finished it, I was thinking, "Why hasn't someone else said this already?"

It may be that many of us have thought of his ideas, but we could not put them into words clearly. We had not compiled all the historical data he had at his disposal, either. He says himself that the advances in computerization helped him organize his data.

This is a great book, even for those, like me, who are barely literate about economics.

[CTyankee]

7. Mine was a grad level course called "The Meaning of Value." It was more tailored for us Liberal

Studies grad students. That meant we didn't have to do the math involved in the econ theories we were studying. And that was a mercy.

I found it interesting. We read original sources and it was kind of a timeline through history leading up to modern times. Interesting to see how econ theory develops in response to the realities of history. I had the most trouble with "diminishing marginal utility," not with the meaning but with the conclusion of where value was found (in the last utility). It took me a while but I figured it out.

I liked Marx best. We read Part I of Das Kapital and I found him to be at least mordantly funny. The Austrians were the hardest to "get." My professor hated me and I was afraid of her. Anyway, I got a B for my efforts...

[appalachiablue]

3. Good post. I enjoyed Robert Putnam's commentary on the crisis of opportunity in the US

from his new book, "Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis" during Thom Hartmann's recent interview on The Big Picture. Brilliant man, Harvard Professor, advisor to three Presidents.

I've read some of Piketty, brilliant book. When we win the WH in 2016, I'd like to see him join the economic team, along with Stiglitz & Krugman!

*Robt. Putnam Interview with Thom Hartmann (13 mins.)

[Roland99]

5. Oh, thanks for that interview!

[appalachiablue]

6. Sure, Putnam explains well the changes in our society, downward for some time. And TH's

guests & programs are excellent. I follow almost daily both The TH Program, 12-13 PM ET & in the evening The Big Picture, 7 & 9 PM ET, live online at freespeech.org, or on the FSTV Channel network on Dish, Direct & some cable cos. Many of his program clips are also on his website & YouTube.