Thomas Piketty

Thomas Piketty is a French economist whose work focuses on wealth inequality and income distribution. He is a professor at the Paris School of Economics and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Piketty gained global prominence with the 2013 publication of his bestselling book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which analyzes historical trends in the concentration of capital.

Early life and education

Born in Clichy, a suburb of Paris, he demonstrated early academic prowess. He attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, a prestigious preparatory school, before gaining entrance to the École Normale Supérieure. He completed a doctorate in economics at the London School of Economics and the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, under the supervision of Roger Guesnerie. His dissertation, which focused on the theory of redistribution, won the French Economic Association's prize for best thesis.

Academic career

He began his academic career as an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1993 to 1995. He returned to France in 1995, taking a position as a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. In 2000, he became a professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He was a founding director of the Paris School of Economics in 2006. He has also held visiting positions at institutions like the London School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley.

Research and publications

His research is centered on the long-run evolution of income inequality and the distribution of wealth. He co-founded the World Inequality Lab, which maintains the World Inequality Database. His early work, Les Hauts Revenus en France au XXe siècle, analyzed top incomes in France. His international breakthrough came with Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which synthesized historical data from countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to argue that the rate of return on capital tends to exceed economic growth, leading to greater inequality. This was followed by Capital and Ideology in 2019, which expanded the analysis globally and examined the political ideologies justifying inequality.

Public engagement and influence

His publications have sparked widespread public and academic debate on economic policy. He has advised political figures, including Ségolène Royal during her 2007 presidential campaign, and contributed to policy discussions within the French Socialist Party. His advocacy for a global wealth tax and higher progressive taxation has influenced political platforms internationally, including those of politicians like Bernie Sanders in the United States. He is a frequent commentator in media outlets such as Le Monde and has engaged in public debates with economists like Paul Krugman and Branko Milanović.

Awards and recognition

His contributions to economics have been recognized with numerous awards. He received the Prix du meilleur jeune économiste de France in 2002. In 2013, he was awarded the Yrjö Jahnsson Award, a prestigious European prize for economists under 45. For his scholarly work, he was appointed a Knight of the Légion d'honneur in 2015. He has also been nominated for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and was listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2015.

Category:French economists Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:École Normale Supérieure alumni