Tyler Cowen predicts the future

Tyler Cowen, writing in the New York Times on July 20, 2013, accurately predicts the future:

If you’d like to know where American political debates are headed, the data suggest a simple answer. The next major struggle — in economic terms at least — will be over whether taxes on personal wealth should rise — and by how much.

He goes on to cite a study by Thomas Piketty, who was little-known outside of economic circles back then.

On a related note, I read this Bloomberg report today contrasting the booming luxury home market with lagging demand for middle-class property. I think this is evidence of faux-recovery — Fed stimulus has succeeded in inflating stock prices (92 percent of the value of directly-held stocks is owned by the top 13 percent of households), but done little to create new middle-class jobs (as yesterday’s jobs report indicates) or bring about any substantial relief for the rest of us.

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