Capital in the 21st Century – from Netflix and Thomas Piketty Square Off: Debating Politics

This is a comprehensive review of the Netflix movie called Capital in the Twenty-First Century.  It is based on the book Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty. Thomas Piketty appears in the film along with several other economists to discuss the history of capital and capitalism.

This review is a conservative counterweight to the liberal narrative in the film. My goal here is to highlight the benefits of economic progress that this film mostly ignores.

See the links below for the relevant facts discussed in the podcast.

Great Depression:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/11/30/the-great-depression-was-ended-by-the-end-of-world-war-ii-not-the-start-of-it/?sh=5196f9d657d3

https://www.heritage.org/trade/commentary/what-really-ended-the-great-depression

Life Expectancy:

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/life-expectancy

Income Inequality:

https://taxfoundation.org/average-income-age/#:~:text=Income%20tends%20to%20exhibit%20an,over%20make%20above%20average%20incomes.&text=A%20snapshot%20of%20income%20data,life%20cycle%20story%20of%20income.

https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/explaining-us-income-inequality-by-household-demographics-2019-update/

https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/five-myths-about-economic-inequality-america

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/10/04/mckinseys-ridiculous-claim-that-this-generation-will-be-or-are-poorer-than-their-parents/?sh=61eddb804d50

Wealth Creation and Innovation:

https://www.nber.org/digest/oct04/who-gains-innovation

https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-serve-the-public-seek-profits-11602435735