This is a segment of the Bill Moyers program on PBS where Paul Krugman, the NY Times Economist is giving a book review of Thomas Piketty's book Capital In the 21st Century.
As I watched this, I was most taken by what was NOT being said, and the issues that were Not being addressed, and by the mythology that was being promoted. I could not help reminding myself that Paul Krugman is an employee of the New York Times, America's premier propaganda outlet.
But to make a long story short, the mythology being presented was that 'the era of self-made wealthy people' was coming to an end. Wealthy people are wealthy not because they work hard, but because they belong to an exclusive club that gives them connections, insider information and protection. It makes them wealthy and keeps them wealthy. That was something nobody talks about. (It's a big secret.) The club owns the government. (Another big secret.)
Another thing that was not talked about was why Capital grows at a faster rate than the economy. This is the third rail of politics and economics, and you do not ever talk about this or your career will come to a grinding halt. The real reason capital grows faster than the economy is because our money system creates money out of thin air and gives a monopoly to a small group of people to charge interest to lend it out. If you think about this carefully, you will see that this will result in a small number of people --the ones who create the money--accumulating all the wealth, by putting a burden on the economy to pay the interest. It is 'systemic usury' and anyone who talks about it will suffer.
Hatha