{"product":{"product_id":"067443000X","title":"Capital in the Twenty First Century","price":"32.43","image_url":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412cki2udIL._SL500_.jpg","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/067443000X"},"comments":[{"body":"Oh that's cute. You linked me Sowell. Now try reading a big boy economist: https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1496878948\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=Capital+in+the+Twenty-First+Century\r\n\r\nI know the math looks really hard but trust me, it won't be so bad. ","subreddit_name":"lostgeneration","author":"MadCervantes"},{"body":"\u0026gt;Which situation is better?\r\n\r\nThe one that doesn't have wildly unrealistic numbers making the comparison irrelevant.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;How is income inequality relevant to the overall health of the economy?\r\n\r\n[Pick up a book, man.](https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X)  Or read some economic theory that isn't from the editorial pages of the WSJ, FOXNews, or Breitbart.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;Compare the US economy with Europes economy.\r\n\r\nWhich one?  There are 44, all with different fiscal policy.","subreddit_name":"politics","author":"dread_lobster"},{"body":"\u0026gt; why are you in to crypto?\r\n\r\nBecause bitcoin is sovereign money and so long as it remains decentralized it will resist state *monetary control*. This mostly has to do with printing money, inflation, etc.\r\n\r\nIt is not a conflict to believe in bitcoin and also believe in taxation. Taxation is essential for civilized societies to exist.\r\n\r\nThomas Piketty has already proven that taxation and *healthy* regulation who's purpose is public benefit leads to the most healthy economies. Its corrupt politicians pandering to specialized industries, monopolizing industries and creating bad regulations/laws that favor these special interest groups that fuck society. I encourage you to read the book, he's an economist that worked for over a decade with big data scientists to gather empircal data to back up his proposals. There's a difference been economic theory and economic reality, Piketty engages in the reality part.\r\n\r\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X","subreddit_name":"Bitcoin","author":"Cryptolution"},{"body":"Not Indian perspective but You should definitely try Piketty's [Capital in Twenty-first century](http://www.amazon.in/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books\u0026amp;ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1461878405\u0026amp;sr=1-1\u0026amp;keywords=piketty).","subreddit_name":"india","author":"rabbit_hook"},{"body":"What I still can't comprehend is that we already know of the negative impact of current capitalism on the human ecosystem -- long and short term. \r\n\r\nI know it got a (ridiculous) bad rap for it's length, but the fact more people haven't read [Piketty's Capital](http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/) is criminal. It should be required reading for the US congressional summer camp. ","subreddit_name":"Futurology","author":"lHaveNoMemory"},{"body":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1471357742\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=capital+in+the+21st+century\r\n\r\n20 pounds new on co.uk for the hardcover version. (Remember that amazon has excellent policies if you somehow get shipped a used version)\r\n\r\nJust in case you don't like reading on pdf (I know I don't): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Reason-Thomas-Paine/dp/1515090825/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1471357854\u0026amp;sr=8-4\u0026amp;keywords=age+of+reason 5 pounds ","subreddit_name":"belgium","author":"Inquatitis"},{"body":"So I think there are a few important distinctions to be made first is illegal immigration vs legal immigration. Obviously legal immigrants enter the country legally and pay all required taxes, follow all the general rules, and most importantly can be counted and documented. Illegal immigrants often do the opposite of these.   \r\n\r\nThe second distinction is immigration versus migrants/refugees. Immigrants are just normal people that move to a different country or location because they believe it will lead them to a better life. Migrants/refugees are people that have been forced out or have fled their country or location because of war/famine/or other hardships. Also they often do not have a specific place in mind to end up, just anywhere that will be better then the war torn country they are from.\r\n\r\nI am an American so take that into my biases.\r\n\r\nSo making these distinction, I would say that I am very much in favor of legal immigration. First because it helps redistribute wealth from the rich to the poorer immigrating class. Essentially because there is a large influx of people that normally start on the poorest tier of society it makes inherited wealth much less influential on the economy. I cannot really do a good job of explaining this in a reddit post, but check out[ Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century](http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books\u0026amp;ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1441782815\u0026amp;sr=1-1\u0026amp;keywords=capital+in+the+twenty-first+century) if you want to learn more about immigrants socio-economic effects(really good book BTW). \r\n\r\nSecond reason, to counter your point about the growth mindset, is that in order to stop the global population from continuing to grow we must improve the quality of life, in particular make the child mortality rate decline, in poorer nations. [Here is a really good video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_9mhnWVWeA) that explains this more. So if people are immigrating to a better country they are more likely to have 2 or fewer kids. Sure, I would love to flip a switch and make everyone have 1 child and become satisfied with their standard of living but that is not going to happen ever. Plus it feels wrong to say I get to live a higher quality of life and someone else cannot. \r\n\r\nThirdly, (this is where my biases come in) all 8 of my great grandparent immigrated to america, and 7/8 through Ellis Island. So I feel that it would be morally wrong to deny others an opportunity that has essentially given me the quality of life I have today. Also i think it is also morally wrong to say that I can live a certain way because of where i was born. \r\n\r\nI am also in favor of housing migrant/refugees because they are normally fleeing death.  Sure it can be a major inconvenience to countries but given the right resources and management it can actually be a great benefit to economies and help the all the current residents move up the economic ladder. \r\n\r\nI am against illegal immigration because they are often a drain on the system because they do not pay taxes but still utilize many resources provided to the public. (ie police, fire, schools ect.) Also they make accurate data of demographics hard to obtain thus making it harder to plan. Furthermore, they often work in illegal conditions making less than minimum wage thus lowering the bar for everyone else. However most illegal immigrants immigrate illegally because they are unable to do so legally, whether it is the long waiting list for visas or the lack of required skills (ie H1B visa in the US).  I am very much in favor of making these legal immigration processes easier, faster, and less restrictive so that we can actually have immigrants that pay taxes instead of going under the radar. Because let's face it they are going to get in one way or the other. Something similar to Ellis Island would be great. My G-Grandparents just came over on a boat with little to no ID and simply game their name and a few other details so that they could be tracked in the system. They were very much willing to pay taxes and be documented if they could stay and have the potential for a good job. I believe that most illegal immigrants today share that mentality but are forced to become illegal.\r\n\r\nThis is just my two cents, but what do I know. The Native Americans had a pretty good thing going until a bunch of immigrants fucked it up.\r\n\r\n I cannot say that my views on immigration are heavily influenced by my green views but then again I say that about a lot of political issues and many  of my friends have argued otherwise.\r\n","subreddit_name":"Green","author":"sdonaghy"},{"body":"And talking about Haiti - this article about the millions France owes to your country - as many others, when human trade was forbidden and slaves freed, it's not them who got paid for what they did suffer but-their-masters... Thomas picketty is a renown economist who think France should give back when she has taken sooo much - and the \" but they did build road\" is BS, they did, to transport easily the stolen mats, not to help the locals. [https://www.nouvelobs.com/idees/20220524.OBS58892/thomas-piketty-les-milliards-d-euros-que-la-france-devrait-rembourser-a-haiti.html](https://www.nouvelobs.com/idees/20220524.OBS58892/thomas-piketty-les-milliards-d-euros-que-la-france-devrait-rembourser-a-haiti.html) and here the book [https://www.amazon.fr/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X](https://www.amazon.fr/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X)  pretty interesting and easy to read. Talks about \" What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, \"Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again. A work of extraordinary ambition, originality, and rigor, Capital in the Twenty-First Century \"reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.\" There lol am done, have a good day \\^\\^ !!","subreddit_name":"zlibrary","author":"Cleobulle"},{"body":"\u0026gt;Smaller countries with freer markets have net immigration. \r\n\r\nDepends on the country, and we were specifically discussing migration of labor, not general privatization on this specific tangent.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;It was a model for meeting state demand.\r\n\r\nIn the short term, with no planning for long term because Hitler's long term plan was for Germany to become 'too big to fail'. They rapidly burnt through their warchest and raided resources because it's a poor strategy for the longterm.\r\n\r\nIt seems you've abandoned trying to equate nazis with socialism, but just in case you still internally believe in that nonesense, I recommend these articles:\r\n\r\n*\"Betting on Hitler: The Value of Political Connections in Nazi Germany\"* , by Thomas Ferguson and Hans-Joachim Voth. Goes into detail how Hitler had been the choice of german capital, and jow they were lavishly rewarded for doing so.\r\n\r\nhttp://www2.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/wpol/schumpeter/pdf/Voth.pdf\r\n\r\n*\"Capital in the Twenty-First Century\"*, by Thomas Piketty, which compares the share of national income that went to Capital in US \u0026amp; Germany, from 1929 to 1938.\r\n\r\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X\r\n\r\n*\"Against the Mainstream: Nazi Privatization in the 1930s\"*, by Germà Bell, which demonstrates how the third reich went against economic mainstreams in systematically privatizing swathes of publicly owned utilities.\r\n\r\nhttps://coreyrobin.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/bel-2010-nazi-privatizations1.pdf","subreddit_name":"news","author":"Neurolimal"},{"body":"\u0026gt;LMAO where have I heard this before??\r\n\r\nI have attempted to explain how each author has presented a false understanding of Marxian value or the nature of social production. I have given in Marx's own words and my own attempts to explain these concepts. If you are struggling I am happy to try again. Dusty's essay in particular is just mind-boggling in terms of how closely it mirrors Marx and then seems to ascribe to him all of this 'intrinsic axiologist' stuff that is literally contradictory to the Marxist conception of the human species.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;Except there is no real difference in the real world.\r\n\r\nYes there is. Water may have a multitude of use values. It may have a multitude of exchange values in relation to any given object. It may be present in such a material condition as to hold no value whatsoever, it may be present in such a material condition as to be the most valuable thing an individual could possibly want. A man dying of dehydration in the desert does not care for water's utility as a solvent or cleaning agent. A man drowning in the sea is not currently looking for a refreshing spigot to drink from. No one object holds some singular intrinsic or objective use value, this is a socially and subjectively derived phenomena. No one object holds some kind of set exchange ratio with another object outside of a given relational context which ultimately stems back to the material conditions within which the exchange takes place. My knowing how much a bottle of water sells for in central London relative to a bottle of Diet Coke does not tell me how much water I am going to need to turn an area of dirt into mud for the making of bricks. These values are distinct and separate.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;This didn't clarify anything.\r\n\r\nWell again, see above. You have an appallingly bad understanding of the Marxian conception of society, which is why you are repeatedly presenting these quite shoddy arguments and then pretending like no one is giving you any kind of answers. The answer lies deeper than you want to look because you have not challenged some very basic presuppositions about our understanding of the material world around us. Like I said, I did not want to address what *you* said so much as critique the places you are clearly getting these ideas from. If you want to raise where you are struggling to understand or feel I am not making sense, I am more than happy to make another attempt in a more specific and detailed manner.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;We hate Mondays because we don't like working.\r\n\r\nExcept people will spend hundreds of hours working on whatever hobby satisfies them? Labour is not simply the act of going to work for your employer or engaging in market activity. As per Dusty's essay that you shared to support your position -\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;*Value-judgements and actions on them do not spring from a vacuum and can not float away and apart from the axiological lattice binding all values as instruments to a standard or ultimate value...It is the constant conditionality of the form of life that gives rise to the need of values and to the need of acting to secure and keep things instrumental to an organism’s preservation.*\r\n\r\nSo when we say forced to work, as the video makes clear, we are talking about being forced to work in a manner in which we are unfree to determine how to allocate our own labour, rather than simply the need to labour in and of itself. In fact the need to labour freely is, again as mentioned in the video, part of Man's intrinsic nature without which we become alienated from both ourself and the society in which we exist. We hate Monday's during the work-week because it signals a resumption in which the majority of our time is spent working in a manner in which we have little to no control over.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;No one is forced to work for a capitalist.\r\n\r\nYes, you are free to go to the woods and build a mud-hut and die of starvation a few months down the line. Well, not really because most land is privately owned, but in principle. The reality is of course that we are social beings and we are talking about social labour. Your ability to engage in social labour under Capitalism without engaging with the market is... not really possible. Hence you are always going to be reliant on some form of Capitalist or Capital in order for your labour to actually meet your basic needs for survival, let alone the needs required to enjoy a social existence.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;Capital also does not concentrate or accumulate into fewer hands.\r\n\r\nThere's a big [door-stopper book](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X) published on just this not that long ago. It is worth a read, but it can be a bit exhausting! The accumulation of Capital historically since the 18th century has only been curtailed by an anomalous period of political restraint on the activity of Capital during the mid-20th Century.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;They are not \"deprived\" of anything to not get paid.\r\n\r\nI mean... Yes you are? Time? Freedom to be doing things with that time? The money assuming you have signed a contract judging your labour-time to hold a certain agreed value between yourself and your employer and are not some slave-labouring illegal immigrant?\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;Your life is not owned by someone else.\r\n\r\nWell, yeah it is. Again back to the last example. Yes *theoretically* I can go out and make myself a farmstead and live off the wheat I grow. In reality there isn't the public land to be doing that, and realistically you're not going to get those materials to even do that without first exchanging your labour-time for money.\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;Bosses are not unaccountable. Bosses do not control more of your life than dictators.\r\n\r\nI would have preferred he used Capitalist or Employer over bosses. I chalk it down to English as a second/third language. But where was he incorrect? What dictator on the planet could hope to have 8 to 12 hours a day in the lives of each of their subjects in which they control the minutiae of their actions, dictate when they are free to take breaks for essential biological functions? What do you mean bosses cannot force you to work for free, you've never done unpaid overtime?\r\n\r\n\u0026gt;I'm 3 minutes in...\r\n\r\nGood to know one side can sit through three long-form essays of absolute trash and come out with 10,000+ words of argument, while t'other feels more knowledgeable despite being unable to sit through 3 minutes of a video before getting too emotional to continue :) If its trash then you can put together the same kind of argument against on a point-by-point basis as I have tried to do and we can discuss onwards from there.","subreddit_name":"CapitalismVSocialism","author":"merryman1"},{"body":"Nope, it is this book:\r\n\r\n[Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty](https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books\u0026amp;ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1475463051)","subreddit_name":"CapitalismVSocialism","author":"BeatriceBernardo"},{"body":"[Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty](https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books\u0026amp;ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1475463051)","subreddit_name":"CapitalismVSocialism","author":"BeatriceBernardo"},{"body":"\u0026gt; established by whom?\r\n\r\nAcademics. You know, real socioeconomic studies with demonstrated empirical data?\r\n\r\nSeriously dude, spend 5 minutes on google and get educated. Don't rely upon people on reddit to feed you everything you need to know. Get motivated and do your homework.\r\n\r\nHere's the best starting place -\r\n\r\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X","subreddit_name":"Bitcoin","author":"Cryptolution"},{"body":"Yeah, Piketty is \"complete shit\"!!!  If you believe that you're clueless. \r\n https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X","subreddit_name":"AskEconomics","author":"econnobleisfake"},{"body":"Nothings holding you back from reading.\r\n\r\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Capital-Twenty-Century-Thomas-Piketty/dp/067443000X\r\n\r\nIts not something you can summarize on reddit. Read the book and you'll be better educated for it.","subreddit_name":"Bitcoin","author":"Cryptolution"}]}