Simply explained, this debate centered on the ability to measure capital accumulation as an aggregate (K) which could be introduced into the commonly-used Cobb-Douglas production function. To do so, some chapters (notably the introduction by the editors, as well as Mary O’Sullivan’s chapter) pound the need to import more features of the Cambridge capital controversy. More importantly, the book not only attempts to measure inequality (and capital), but it tries to expand theoretically on how to measure it. Each on their own present relevant empirical contributions linking certain key regions to what we can refer to as the “Piketty narrative.” For these chapters alone, the book should be considered a valuable addition to one’s library. The chapters produced by Patrick Manning, Matt Drwenski, Tetsuji Okazaki and Prasannan Parthasarathi are particularly valuable as they consider regions often ignored and about which little is known. On the empirical front, there is very little to quibble about.
The Contradictions of Capital, edited by Pat Hudson and Keith Tribe, is therefore a welcome contribution, with a few reservations. Given the breadth of the concepts underlying those contributions, an entire book (or three or four) discussing and expounding on the finer details, limitations and promises contained in Piketty’s work is well justified. This is because it attempts the dual task of considering the theoretical linkages between inequality and growth while also providing detailed methodological approaches to measuring inequality. Piketty’s three-pound tome Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which aggregated a series of prior works, will likely keep scholars abuzz for many years. It was hauled back onto the stage thanks in large part to the efforts of Thomas Piketty alongside research partners such as Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, and kindred spirits like the late Tony Atkinson. The financial crisis brought this subfield back into prominence. Reviewed for EH.Net by Vincent Geloso, Texas Tech University.īy the turn of the millennium, the study of inequality was more or less the poor child of the discipline of economics.
Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2016. Pat Hudson and Keith Tribe, editors, The Contradictions of Capital in the Twenty-First Century: The Piketty Opportunity. The Contradictions of Capital in the Twenty-First Century: The Piketty Opportunity Editor(s):
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