The Piketty Affair
More or Less
BBC
4.6 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2014
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Did 'rock-star' French economist Thomas Piketty get his numbers wrong? His theories about rising inequality and the increasing importance of capital have been the talk of the economic and political worlds this year. And part of their appeal has been the massive amount of data Piketty has brought together to back them. But the Financial Times claims to have found significant problems with Piketty's data on wealth, and says this undermines his claims about rising inequality. Tim Harford examines the FT's claims and Thomas Piketty's response. Plus: is as much land given over to golf courses as housing in England; is racism on the rise in Britain; and should we be concerned that several young men who have died recently were players of the video game Call of Duty?
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading more or less from the BBC. |
| 0:03.2 | This is the version first broadcast on Radio 4. |
| 0:06.4 | Here's Tim Hathard. |
| 0:08.2 | Hello and welcome to More or Less, |
| 0:10.2 | your weekly hot date with data. |
| 0:12.7 | This week, are we building two few houses |
| 0:15.4 | because the country is covered with golf courses? |
| 0:18.0 | Should video games get the blame for murders and suicides? |
| 0:21.9 | Racism is on the rise, or is it? |
| 0:24.4 | And more or less founder, Michael Blastland, |
| 0:27.5 | gives us the first law of numbers. |
| 0:30.0 | The first law of numbers is? |
| 0:33.3 | But first, this week, the world of economics has been abuzz |
| 0:37.3 | with claims that one of their own has got his numbers wrong, |
| 0:41.0 | and it's no ordinary economist. |
| 0:45.2 | He's the rock star French economist |
| 0:47.1 | whose book, Capital in the 21st century, |
| 0:49.3 | reviewers have called it a bulldozer of a book, |
| 0:52.2 | agiastereo, seminal, definitive, a watershed. |
| 0:55.8 | The man who's managed to unite the words, |
| 1:01.9 | rock star and economist in the same sentence is Thomas Piketty. |
| 1:05.8 | He's a French professor whose vast |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.