Piketty: Desigualdad y Tributación

Abstract

This article critically examines Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2013), by the French economist Thomas Piketty. It demonstrates that, as the rate of capital return is greater than the rate of economic growth, capitalism generates inequalities. Piketty´s concern focuses on the process of capitalism accumulation within national borders and not on inequality between countries. The author does not consider that, due to the high mobility of capital there is a strong tendency to change tax grounds of income consumption, labor and fixed assets. These shifts weaken nations and intensify inequality between countries in favor of capital. Thus, to end inequality, global tax must be established to finance a minimum income which will give support to the universal right to subsistence, lessen inequality and will abate world hunger and misery.