Thomas Piketty's Case for 'Participatory Socialism'
About this episode
Klein interviews French economist Thomas Piketty about his book 'A Brief History of Equality,' a deliberately optimistic sequel to 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century.' Piketty argues wealth — not income — best measures opportunity and bargaining power, and his cross-country historical data shows a long-run trend toward equality from 1914 to 1980, driven less by wars themselves than by the institutions built during wartime mobilization: progressive taxation, universal education and the welfare state. He notes the paradox that the most prosperous era in US history coincided with the highest taxes on the rich, rebutting the Reagan-era claim that inequality fuels growth. His vision of 'participatory socialism' includes a universal minimum inheritance for every 25-year-old funded by a progressive wealth tax, expanding Germany's co-determination model so workers hold up to half of corporate board votes, and democratic federalism to regulate global capital.