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Here's why Thomas Piketty doesn't think Republicans are 'really serious' about income inequality

Here's why Thomas Piketty doesn't think Republicans are 'really serious' about income inequality

Hunter Walker

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Thomas Piketty director of the Paris School of Economics (PSE) attends the inauguration of the school in Paris, February 22, 2007.

French economist Thomas Piketty discussed the GOP's increasing focus on income inequality in an interview with MSNBC's Krystal Ball that was released on Wednesday.

Piketty, whose recent book "Capital in the 21st Century" extensively discussed the issue, explained why he believes the GOP isn't "really serious" about addressing income inequality.

"There's a lot of hypocrisy in this conservative rhetoric about the skill gap and education gap," Piketty said. "If they are really serious about the skill gap and the education gap, then they cannot at the same time cut tax on the rich."

Piketty also specifically criticized the education policy of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R). The economist argued that, by focusing on school choice as a solution for improving the education system, Bush won't be improving schools for the "bottom social groups."

"From what I can see, he doesn't want to invest more resources into education. He just wants more competition, more voucher system. ... There's limited evidence that this is working," Piketty said of Bush. "I think, most of all, what we need is to put more public resources into the education system. ... If we want to have more growth in the structure and more equitable growth in the structure, we need to put more resources into the education available for the bottom fifty percent, or bottom eighty percent of Americans."

Here's why Thomas Piketty doesn't think Republicans are 'really serious' about income inequality

Hunter Walker

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