Sunday, April 20, 2014


The Sunday, April 20th New York Times' Business section includes an article titled "Taking on Adam Smith (and Karl Marx)" see link:( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/business/international/taking-on-adam-smith-and-karl-marx.html?ref=business&_r=0 ).  After reading the article and familiarizing yourself with the information included in the article (especially names such as Marx and Smith) summarize the piece and express your views on the topic discussed: economic activity in the XXI century and its social repercussions.  Be ready to share the ideas discussed in the piece and yours in front of your fellow students for extra credit. You will not receive points unless you can prove that you read the article and you know what you are discussing.  No B.S. and I don't mean Bachelor of Science.

13 comments:

  1. The article is about a man named Thomas piketti who wrote a book "capital in the 20th century". Thomas was18 when the Berlin Wall fell so that experience made him write his book which talks about the early economic status. Karl Marx who is also fiercfuly critical on economic and social inequalities, sought to explain the iron laws. Mr. Marx presumed that the rate of return on capital because of the systems contradiction but piketti thinks the opposite. Thomas is ok with inequality he says that he believes that it better to an extend because it helps everyone in the society. I honestly don't have anything to say about the article for it is not in my interest. I had to read it a couple of times to understand it. This is more for a person who is into economics or business. I can say that I do agree with the inequality because there is no way that the poor will be equal to the rich.

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  3. First off I will start by agreeing with the final statement provided by Mr. Piketty, how he proposes that we cut the property tax for half or three-quarters of people with less wealth. I agree because it's an intelligent proposal anything less would be insulting, how by cutting these taxes you give these people the ability to succeed in payments as well as payouts for houses. we really should open our eyes when reading this article even though it was quite challenging the first time i read it. We should find a way to share the tax burden because if not equalized the rich remain rich, the low class remains low class, and inequality prevents us ( the united states ) from moving forward. This article may appeal more to a person majoring in business/economics or similar fields.

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  4. The article "taking on Adam Smith (and Karl Marx)" really caught my attention. It was about a man journey and life experience all brought together and expressed in one book called "Capital in the 20th Century" this book express his veiws on the econmany in our life time he studied Economics in France and brought his knowledge to the united states where he was a assistant professor at M.I.T but he left the State because he felt they had lack of knowledge. in his book he challenges the views of Karl Marx who presumed that the rate of return on capital because of the systems contradiction Piketti on the other hand thinks opposite. he also disagrees with smith who says inequity is OK. i feel this article is interesting because he is man that has been trough a lot and express his life work in a book and his beliefs on economics are very strong.

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  5. This is an interesting article that talks about a man experience the name of Thomas Piketty. Mr. Piketty write a book called " Capital in the 20th Century" and this book show his point of view on the economy in our world. Especially the inequality of wealth that the world has in the industrialized countries. The rich will be wealthier and the poor will still struggle. He also talks about the capitalism of Karl Marx and he disagree with Smith on inequality. He is against inequality. If you are in to business this is a nice article for you to read.

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  6. Thomas Piketty wrote the book that was said to be he most important economy book in the decade. The book in title is called " Capital in the 20th Century." He studied in France and then later worked at M.I.T to only return back to France because he did not think Americans had a good understanding of economics. He challenges Marx's economics which is for justice to prevail. He wants to share the wealth. He wants to tax the richer more so they can lower the taxes on people with less income. He disagrees with Smiths on inequality because the only time that works in after a war situation. I did like this article it had many good ideas. I do agree with inequality because the rich should be held on another level because they work hdd for their money and shouldn't be punished by the poor. If the poor want to make money they can help themselves to get out of such situations.

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  7. This article was interesting, of course after like the second time reading it because it was a little confusing. This article is about Thomas Piketty he wrote a book called "Capital in the 20th Century" this book is about the economy in our lives. Piketty lived in France and then came to America to work at M.I.T. Thomas disagrees with Smith who says that inequality is right. and Thomas thinks the opposite he wants it to be air for both the rich and the poor not them remain the same. Now I honestly disagree with everything I thing it should remain the way it is because maybe they fix something and it becomes worse. I believe this article will give more interest to someone majoring in economics or business. I am majoring in dental hygiene which has nothing to do with economics but it actually had me very interested.

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  8. This article really caught my eye, It's about thomas Pikety and how his life experiences has affect him and lead to him writing his book "Capital in the 20th Century". The book is about his view on the economy and the inequality of wealth in some countrys. Thomas believes that the gap between the rich and the poor will only continue to grow. I agree with Thomas, I believe that the gap that is between the rich and ther poor will only continue to grow as time goes on.

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  9. The article is about Thomas Piketty and his book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” The article explain Pikkety's way of thinking and his experiences that help him write his book. Also explains what the book is about. From what I understood he explains how society and politics affects the economy. The inequality between classes is what affects the most the economic growth of a country. If the people that are wealthy are the ones that pays less taxes and have more benefits and the ones that are very little wealth are the ones that pays more taxes then the economy will continue the same, stagnant and without big improvements. If people aren't motivated because inequality will continue being a harsh reality, and there's no hope that this will change, then the economy of the country won't change either and as a result won't grow or improve in any sense. I agree completely with Mr. Piketty’s and his ideas, even when I know that always will be inequality as he says I don't have any problem with that as long as it is in the common interest.

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  10. This article focused on Thomas Piketty and his book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," echoing the title of Karl Marx's book "Das Kapital." Although Piketty does not support communism, he understand's Marx's iron laws of communism, and is also critical of the inequalities that are a result of capitalism. Piketty's book focuses on the economic rules of Western societies. I found his findings very interesting, like the correlation between economic growth and inequality (increasing economic growth, decreasing inequality. I also agree with the changes he proposed, like lowering the tax on the population that has little wealth. I also found it interesting that he does not associate himself with any political party and simply "follows the data." Like Piketty, I think that the wealthy must be taxed more to help decrease the gap between the rich and poor.

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  11. This article is about Mr. Thomas Piketty and his book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" in which he analyzes factors that drive the accumulation of wealth and distribution of capital. His findings are based on centuries of statistic studies and explain the reason because inequality surges. He think inequality is the result of the high rates of growth of income from capital in comparison with low rates of growth from wages. He makes reference to Marx economic theories on his book but disagrees with him. Piketty assures that inequality is socially and economically destabilizing but not necessarily lead on Marx's disastrous predictions. This article was hard to understand, but I agreed with Piketty's proposal about reducing property taxes of those with very little wealth. As home owner, this would help my finances dramatically.

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  13. Thomas Piketty is a best selling author for his new book Capital in the 21rst Century. Thomas is an Economist and pro supporter against income inequality. In the article that was published in the New York Times on April 19. 2014 the author Steven Erlancer focused on Thomas's new book, and his views about income inequality, I am amazed by Thomas's work, and agree that redistribution could be an important tool on solving the income inequality Problem. Like the article state there is no need for a minority to be making millions of Dollars while a majority is struggling to survive. I am please to know that there are people like Thomas writing about real economic issues . Other economist such as Branko Milancovidk and Paul Krugman acknowledge the topics discussed in Thomas's book , and states that it would be the most Important book of the year and even for decades.

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