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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

More or Less: The Piketty Affair

Factual

Thomas Piketty

30/05/2014

The Piketty Affair

BBC World Service - More or Less, The Piketty Affair

Did ‘rock-star’ French economist Thomas Piketty get his numbers wrong?

Economist Thomas Piketty's theories on inequality and capital have been the talk of the economic and political worlds. Is the Financial Times right that he got his numbers wrong?

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 power 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. Tim Harford examines the FT's claims and Thomas Piketty’s response.

(Image:  "Best Selling Economist Author Thomas Piketty Speaks At UC Berkeley". Credit: Getty Images)

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