Here's what the world's richest man thinks of Thomas Piketty indy100 indy100 Indy100 logoNewsletter sign upRegister/Sign inTop 100NewsViralPoliticsCelebritiesScience & TechVideoWishlistWishlistBooksFashion & BeautyFood & DrinkHome & GardenKidsSports & FitnessTechTravel & OutdoorsMoreScience & techVideoConversationsSportIdentitiesLifestyleShowbizTVSearchxNews

Here' s what the world' s richest man thinks of Thomas Piketty

Dina RickmanOct 15, 2014 Billionaire philanthropist and the richest man in the world Bill Gates has read Thomas Piketty's lefty polemic Capital - and he mostly agrees with it. For those - such as Ed Miliband - who are finding it hard to digest all 700 pages of the French economist's tome, Capital is essentially an analysis of wealth and income inequality which concludes that unequal distribution of wealth causes economic and social instability. To combat this, Piketty suggests global wealth taxes on capital rather than income. Gates also points to a neat four-paragraph summary of the book from the Economist. In his review of Piketty, published on his blog (link opens to blog in full), Gates says that like the economist he is also a big believer of the "estate tax" - otherwise known as a mansion tax to you and me. While he believes there are flaws in Piketty, most simply that it does not give a "full picture of how wealth is created and how it decays", he says overall: I very much agree with Piketty that: High levels of inequality are a problem—messing up economic incentives, tilting democracies in favour of powerful interests, and undercutting the ideal that all people are created equal. Capitalism does not self-correct toward greater equality—that is, excess wealth concentration can have a snowball effect if left unchecked. Governments can play a constructive role in offsetting the snowballing tendencies if and when they choose to do so. More: Bill Gates more than accepted the ice bucket challenge More: The NRA is facing its biggest challenge yet: Bill GatesKeep reading...Show less

Lionesses among those to be honoured at Pride of Britain Awards

A posed smile can improve your mood new research suggests

Owen Jones delivers powerful speech on trans rights at awards ceremony

Please log in or register to upvote this article

Top 100

Liz Truss has resigned as prime minister - the best memes and reactions

liz trussprime ministerresignedmemesjokesliz truss14h

The Daily Star' s lettuce officially outlasted Liz Truss

liz trussresignationlettucedaily starliz truss13h

Liz Truss' s time as PM summed up with Taylor Swift song titles

liz trusstaylor swiftprime ministerliz truss12h

Man endures ' 29 hour flight' with screaming kids for the entire trip

flightplanechildflightOct 12, 2022

Lorraine Kelly hits out at Madonna' s ' boiled egg' face

madonnamadonnalorraine kellygmbshowbizplastic surgeryOct 11, 2022

Elon Musk is actually selling a ' Burnt Hair' fragrance

elon muskthe boring companyperfumeelon muskburnt hairOct 12, 2022

Jon Stewart slams Arkansas attorney general for her ' anti-trans law'

lgbt+transgenderlgbt+jon stewartapple tvarkansasus newsnewsOct 11, 2022

Couple spark debate for ' scandalous' wedding cake topper

wedding caketiktokwedding cakeviralOct 12, 2022

Love Island star shows extent of how far influencers edit photos

Love IslandOct 11, 2022

Steven Seagal describes Putin as one of ' greatest world leaders'

steven seagalOct 10, 2022

Lizzo wears empowering shirt after being fat-shamed by Kanye West

lizzoOct 10, 2022

14 of the worst things the Tories did this week

liz trussOct 08, 2022

A lettuce just outlasted Liz Truss' stint as prime minister

Liz Truss13h

Newsnight guest says ' you can' t treat mortgages like prime ministers'

Liz Truss18hThe Conversation (0)