Overblown

Economists on Piketty Error Charges: Meh

Say alleged mistakes don't undercut economist's thesis.

New York Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman responded to an article published Friday by Chris Giles in the Financial Times alleging that French economist Thomas Piketty made data mistakes in his runaway bestseller, Capital in the 21st Century, errors that undercut his argument that capitalism inherently leads to the concentration of wealth at the top. "Piketty will have to answer these questions in detail, and we'll see how well he does it," Krugman wrote. But Giles is wrong that a potential reconsideration of Piketty's data undercuts his overall thesis about wealth concentration. "The fact that Giles reached that conclusion is a strong indicator that he himself is doing something wrong." The Economist added that Giles's "analysis does not support many of the allegations made by the FT, or the conclusion that the book's argument is wrong."