Piketty on taxes

Piketty examines the role of the state in the concentration of wealth because it is much greater than citizens realize. The eye-popping salaries of the super managers came about after the top marginal tax rate fell from the 70% range to the mid-30s in recent decades. Pretty strong incentive to push for a bigger slice of corporate profits.

He also examined the portion of estates that were taxed, and the rate at which they were taxed, to get at why the wealth charts have reverted to the Belle Epoque era. Same story. He believes the state has abandoned its role in reining in the natural tendencies of the powerful toward excess.

Making matters worse are states that have become tax havens to assist those trying to hide their fortunes. Piketty rarely departs from a measured tone, but on this topic, he loses it:
"No one has the right to set his own tax rates. It is not right for individuals to grow wealthy from free trade and economic integration only to rake off the profits at the expense of their neighbors. That is outright theft."