Daron Acemoglu on Inequality, Institutions, and Piketty

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4.7 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2014

⏱️ 69 minutes

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Summary

Daron Acemoglu, the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his new paper co-authored with James Robinson, "The Rise and Fall of General Laws of Capitalism," a critique of Thomas Piketty, Karl Marx, and other thinkers who have tried to explain patterns of data as inevitable "laws" without regard to institutions. Acemoglu and Roberts also discuss labor unions, labor markets, and inequality.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty.
0:06.4	I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
0:11.0	Our website is econtalk.org where you can subscribe, comment on this podcast, and find links
0:16.2	and other information related to today's conversation.
0:19.0	You'll also find our archives where you can listen to every episode we've ever done going
0:23.2	back to 2006.
0:25.4	Our email address ismailodycontalk.org.
0:27.9	We'd love to hear from you.
0:32.2	Today is October 6, 2014, and my guest is Darren Asimoglu, the Elizabeth and James Killian
0:38.5	Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
0:43.4	He has written with co-author James Robinson a very interesting paper, The Rise and Fall
0:48.1	of General Laws of Capitalism.
0:50.6	Darren, welcome back to Econ Talk.
0:53.2	Great to be here.
0:53.9	Thanks very much for having me, Russ.
0:55.4	Now your paper is a critique of both in general, the whole idea that there are general laws,
1:01.4	but in particular, you're taking aim at Thomas Piketty's book Capital in the 21st Century.
1:08.2	He has recently a guest on Econ Talk discussing the book, and at the heart of your critique
1:12.9	is a failure on Econ Talk.
1:14.9	You claim on Piketty's part to take account of institutions.
1:18.8	Explain what you mean.
1:20.8	You know, what I mean is that at some simple level, if you want to think about how economic
	...

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