The controversy about Thomas Piketty’s use of data in Capital in the 21st Century is producing more heat than light. It started on 23 May when the FT reported that figures used by Piketty had been manipulated and didn’t produce…
Author: Edmund O'Sullivan
I am an economist, author, reporter and media executive.
Top professor says you can’t take ideology out of economics
Any attempt to develop ideology-free economics will fail and pragmatism won’t help the profession, according to professor Allen J Scott of the University of California. “…all forms of economic knowledge, from complex formal models to simple empirical descriptions, are always…
Piketty’s data get a well-deserved mauling from the FT
The Financial Times (FT) has precipitated a long-anticipated storm about the validity of the statistical methodology used by Thomas Piketty to support his argument in Capital in the 21st Century for an increase in taxation on the very wealthy. FT…
If price doesn’t work in service economies, you need a robust theory of value
On Wednesay, a comment by Professor John Kay in the FT about the frustration among students of economics called for the profession to address key issues rather than technical models. But what is the key issue economics should address? Followers…
What is capital? Piketty doesn’t say….
The idea of capital is pervasive in economics. But what is capital? Traders in the 17th century believed it was commodity money, gold and silver. It was durable, portable and desirable. Classical economists including Adam Smith broadened the concept to…
Welcome to Economics2030…
… a vital source of ideas and news about economics and economic theory that seeks to re-define the discipline to take into account the rise of intangibles generally and intangible capital in particular in advanced economies. This site contains a rich…