Brad DeLong — Is This the Worst Review of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”?

What can we say? That [Allan] Meltzer has not read the book, because if he had read the book he would know that one of Piketty’s big points–r > g, remember–is that patrimonial capitalism weakens when economic growth is fast? That he is too disconnected from the world to remember that Emmanuel Saez was never on the MIT faculty? That he is too lazy to check his (faulty) memory against Emmanuel Saez’s cv? That there are many people in France who are as opposed to progressive taxation as Allan Meltzer? That France’s income-redistribution policies have not kept it from having as high median after-tax incomes with a lot more vacation time and better health care outcomes than the United States? Or that the lead with its invocation of the joint conspiracy of the mainstream media and the Obama Administration to distract attention from ObamaCare is unhinged wingnut regurgitation of mendacious talking points at its worst?

WCEG — The Equitablog
Is This the Worst Review of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”?
Brad DeLon