Economist Paul Krugman responds to questions about Thomas Piketty's data

On Friday, The Financial Times' reporter Chris Giles released a report, in which he claims that the data underlying Thomas Piketty's book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, is inaccurate. Piketty's theory is that wealth inequalities are shooting back toward levels not seen in nearly a century, and his tome outlining that argument has become a bestseller and catapulted the French economist into the limelight. In the wake of Giles' report, economist Paul Krugman offered his own take today.

The New York Times columnist noted that Giles uses the data to conclude that there has been "no obvious upward trend" in wealth concentration over the past half century. This, Krugman says, cannot be right, either, "and the fact that Giles reaches that conclusion is a strong indicator that he himself is doing something wrong."

Krugman does note that Piketty needs to respond to each question raised in FT's report, but for now, it appears that at least one prominent economist is throwing his weight behind his peer. Read Krugman's full column over at The New York Times.

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