Thomas Piketty on the Politics of Equality (Conversations with Tyler, Ep. 148, recorded March 8, 2022; transcript)

Thomas Piketty · 8 Mar 2022

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Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
History shows a long-run movement toward equality that went together with prosperity

Their wordsas I stress in my new book, A Brief History of Equality, there’s been a long-run movement toward more equality in history, together with a movement toward more economic prosperity, and I argue that the two movements really came together.
Our reading
America led the world economy in the 20th century because it led in education

Their wordsTo me, it’s clear that the key reason why the US has been an economic leader at the world level for most of the 20th century is because it was an educational leader.
Our reading
What matters is everyone's access to fundamental goods, not income and wealth as such

Their wordsUltimately, what I care about is access to fundamental goods like education, health, participation in the political life, participation in economic life.
Our reading
France should pay reparations to Haiti

Their wordsYes, I think France should pay.
Our reading
Capital flows should be controlled more and labor flows less

Their wordsRoughly speaking, I am in favor of more control of capital and capital flows and less control of labor flows — whereas today, we do the opposite.

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