I figured we could have a casual thread to talk about what we're reading. That's the main part of literature after all, in a way. I'll make a start in the comments; feel free to post something!
I figured we could have a casual thread to talk about what we're reading. That's the main part of literature after all, in a way. I'll make a start in the comments; feel free to post something!
I've read Capital in the 21st Century and I agree completely. Piketty has a very liberal worldview, and that can be annoying at times, but the book is at least written in good faith. From what I hear Piketty has also been moving left since then pretty steadily, just at a snail's pace. I think he is pretty focused on wealth redistribution these days, which is good, but stuck thinking only in terms of what liberal western democracies could do without really changing their system. Can't say for sure since I haven't read anything he has written since then, but Capital is if nothing else interesting as an enormous pile of interesting data.
The good thing is that Piketty's world view started to shift. He isn't quite there yet, but his newer works and newer interviews do show him having moved quite a bit on the ideological map. He also doesn't believe anymore that what governments need is data to change their ways. He is more aware of the class conflict that is going on.
Like I said: a snail's pace. I will give him credit for not actually stopping yet, but he is walking next to the train tracks. Could have gotten there much faster, but so long as he keeps walking in the same direction I won't complain too much. Plenty of designated stops along the way though. I hope he keeps walking past them.