At what point do people have the right to defend themselves

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Piketty's incredibly weak response to the Financial Times finding of errors, Piketty doesn't directly address any of the problems

Posted on 3:36 PM by kitkat boom
The Financial Times did a devastating job pointing to errors in Piketty's new book (I had an initial discussion available here).  Now Piketty has published a response letter in the FT available here.  If I were to summarize Piketty's response: it is a nonresponse and he doesn't deal directly with any of the problems raised.

On the corrected European data not showing an increase inequality since 1970, the problems were data not matching the sources that he claimed he obtained the data from, observations being used that don't exist in the sources he cites, and him linking series that are incompatible.  His response is:

I certainly agree that available data sources on wealth are much less systematic than for income. . . .
As I make clear in the book, in the on-line appendix, and in the many technical papers I have published on this topic, one needs to make a number of adjustments to the raw data sources so as to make them more homogenous over time and across countries. I have tried in the context of this book to make the most justified choices and arbitrages about data sources and adjustments. I have no doubt that my historical data series can be improved and will be improved in the future (this is why I put everything on line). . . .
First note that he doesn't directly respond to any of the critiques.  He comes closest when he says that "one needs to make a number of adjustments," but a more helpful response from him would have been to specifically give one single example.  His response clearly doesn't even try to explain data that isn't available in the sources he cites nor is this really a justification for why he would link inconsistent data series.  

For example, take Giles statement that: "Here’s a list of constructed data, where there appears to be no source or where the source is not described either accurately or fully."  A response on the unexplained data would have been something like: if Chris Giles had looked at Appendix B in XXX, he would have clearly seen the source of the data for years XX and XX.  


An explanation for the adjustments would have read something like this: while the data in the original source XX doesn't show an increase in inequality, the reason that my series added 2 percentage points to the share of wealth held by the top 1 percent in the United States in 1970 is largely due to my adjusting for YY and ZZ that were not accounted for in the original data source.  Clearly, YY has to be done because of AAA.


I would really appreciate if someone could point to one place where Piketty's letter actually addresses Giles' points.

As to the US data, again Piketty doesn't explain why he would arbitrarily add on percentages to the US data.


Finally he then says that all this data is really besides the point because it leaves out certain information, which if we had it, would surely show that he is correct ("Finally, let me say that my estimates on wealth concentration do not fully take into account offshore wealth, and are likely to err on the low side.").


Even Piketty's defenders, such as Neil Irwin at the New York Times, have had to concede that Piketty isn't really responding to the points raised.

He did not specifically address the accusations of data-entry errors or give detailed responses to some of Mr. Giles’s criticisms about questionable assumptions that underlie Mr. Piketty’s broader work. . . .
Instead, the defense is one of tone rather than substance.
But in his e-mail to me, he wrote with an almost jovial tone: “Every wealth ranking in the world shows that the top is rising faster than average wealth,” adding, “If the FT comes with a wealth ranking showing a different conclusion, they should publish it!” . . .
Not only is this besides the point, it is also clearly wrong.  As Giles notes:
In constructing his long-run series (in blue), Prof. Piketty migrates from the Kopczuk-Saez data to that of Wolff (1994, 2010) and Kennickel (2009), even though these are measured on a very different basis. The result is that his line does not have the fall in inequality seen by Kopczuk-Saez but instead shows a rise.  
Looking at the two papers by Wolff, which provide estimates from 1960 to 2010, the top 1 per cent wealth share appears to be essentially flat, going from 33.4 per cent of total wealth in 1960 to 34.6 per cent in 2010. Wolff’s papers describe a modest increase in inequality, significantly gentler than Piketty’s graph shows. . . .
Paul Krugman also takes Piketty's approach to defense and doesn't directly address Giles point that different series can show different results for the US.  A proper response from Krugman would have been to point to why one measure is better than another.  Krugman completely ignores the papers by Kopczuk-Saez  and Wolff directly cited by Giles above.

There are two other points to make:


1) The changes in inequality that Piketty is focusing on are small.  I don't think that inequality is bad -- people are getting paid what others think that they are worth.  But compared to historical values, the recent changes, even if Piketty was right, are small.


2) Despite people claiming that Giles points aren't that important, I think that anyone who looks at the graphs for the UK or the top 1 percent in the US will see that they make a big difference, though the top 1 percent of the US was already relatively flat.






For Europe as a whole, the very small increases in inequality changes to becoming basically flat.

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook
Posted in Fraud, Piketty, wealthtransfers | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Nice review of More Guns, Less Crime by a board-certified forensic expert with a statistical background
    There is a very nice review of the third edition of More Guns, Less Crime at Amazon.  It would be nice if the review got some helpful click...
  • In the Santa Barbara killings, the media tries to avoid discussing murders committed with anything other than guns
    On February 23, 2001, David Attias, a University of California-Santa Barbara freshman, " plowed his turbo-charged Saab into a group of ...
  • Continued massive coverage of the Taylor Woolrich story: What happens when a woman is being stalked but not able to defend herself
    KGTV San Diego : " College student wants right to carry gun on campus " Fox 5 San Diego : " Dartmouth student from San Diego ...
  • CPRC discussed in new Forbes article: “How Bloomberg’s Million-Dollar Desire For Gun Control Is Backfiring”
    The article yesterday in Forbes starts this way and is highly recommended: With the midterms just over a month away New York City’s former m...
  • Note that the places Al Queda has discussed attacking in the US are places where few permitted concealed handguns are allowed
    From Yahoo News: Al Qaeda militants in Syria are plotting attacks to inflict mass casualties in the West, possibly against transport systems...
  • Tennessee up to 471,882 permits in July 2014, Michigan at 558,403, Utah at 550,663, and Florida at 1,290,362
    Click on above screenshots to enlarge them.  It is pretty amazing that just seven states now have a total of just seven states account for o...
  • Newest piece at Fox News: "Chicago violence: The buck stops with you, Rahm Emanuel"
    The newest CPRC op-ed at Fox News starts this way: Over the July 4 weekend, in Chicago alone, 16 people were shot to death and another 66 we...
  • Despite massive government tax and regulatory subsidies, Electric car sales are stalled
    Not only is there a large tax credit per car, but the federal government subsidizes massively subsidizes electric cars via its MPG regulatio...
  • Obama's judicial nominees being pushed through the Senate at fast clip
    From Politico: The Senate barely does anything these days — except approve judges that could shape the law for a generation.   Since Majorit...
  • With riots still going on in Ferguson, the New York Times publishes Darren Wilson's address
    From Howard Kurtz over at Fox News: The New York Times, whether consciously or not, has just endangered Darren Wilson’s life.   With tension...

Categories

  • 2010election
  • 2012election
  • 2014elections
  • 2016 election
  • 3D Printed Gun
  • absurd gun law
  • Academia
  • accidentaldeaths
  • AffirmativeAction
  • APgate
  • appearances
  • apple
  • assaultweaponsban
  • At the Brink
  • Athletes
  • Australia
  • background checks
  • BATF
  • Benghazi
  • Bergdahl
  • Bitcoin
  • Blacks Concealed Carry
  • Bloomberg
  • Bob Costas
  • brokenpromisesobama
  • Brookings Institution
  • Bruce Braley
  • CampaignFinanceRegulation
  • Canada
  • cancer
  • CastleLaw
  • Chicago
  • china
  • CNN
  • communism
  • ConcealedCarry
  • corporations
  • Corruption
  • Crime
  • Crime Prevention Research Center
  • DC
  • de Blasio
  • Death
  • DeathPenalty
  • defensive gun use by child
  • DefensiveGunUse
  • DefensiveGunUse1
  • Democrats
  • demonizingrepublicans
  • Dinesh D'Souza
  • drones
  • druggangs
  • drugs
  • Dumbing Down the Courts
  • Economics
  • Economy
  • education
  • electric cars
  • Environment
  • EPA
  • EPAgate
  • EricHolder
  • EU
  • FDA
  • FirstAmendment
  • Frank Miniter
  • Fraud
  • Fun
  • Gabrielle Giffords
  • Gary Becker
  • GDP
  • george zimmerman
  • GlobalWarming
  • Google
  • Government
  • governmentcontrol
  • governmentwaste
  • Gun Control Poll
  • gunban
  • gunconfiscation
  • GunControl
  • GunFreeZone
  • gunlocks
  • gunownershiprate
  • Guns
  • Guns in Media
  • harryreid
  • Health
  • healthcare
  • Hillary Clinton Corruption
  • Hillary Clinton Gun Control
  • Hillary Clinton Mistakes
  • HillaryClinton
  • homosexualmarriage
  • hypocrisy of gun control advocates
  • IllegalAliens
  • income tax
  • insidertrading
  • IRSgate
  • James O'Keefe
  • JimSteyer
  • JoeBiden
  • John Walsh
  • Jonathan Gruber
  • Ken Rogoff
  • Knife
  • lead
  • Leland Yee
  • MaximLott
  • Mayors Against Illegal Guns
  • Media
  • media matters Lott
  • MediaAppearance
  • mediabias
  • mediamatters
  • mental illness gun control
  • Mexico
  • MGLCreviews
  • Michael Brown Ferguson Missouri
  • military
  • MinimumWage
  • Monopoly
  • multiple attackers
  • multiple defensive shots
  • multiplevictimcarattack
  • multiplevictimnongunattacks
  • multiplevictimpublicshooters
  • multiplevictimpublicshooters nonUS
  • newjersey
  • Newtown Attack
  • NICS
  • NSAgate
  • nullification
  • numberpermits
  • Obama
  • Obama Foreign Policy
  • Obama Waste
  • ObamaAdministration
  • obamacare
  • obamacare enrollment
  • ObamaCorruption
  • ObamaDishonest
  • obamadoesntunderstandeconomics
  • ObamaGunControl
  • obamajudicialappointments
  • obamalawless
  • obamaleftwing
  • ObamaMisstatement
  • Obamaprivacy
  • Obamatreatmentmedia
  • op-ed
  • OpenCarry
  • Other
  • Palin
  • PaulBegala
  • piersmorgan
  • Piketty
  • Police
  • Police Chief James Craig
  • police racism
  • Police State in US
  • PoliticalCorrectness
  • poll
  • postedgunfreezone
  • privacy
  • privatization
  • ProsecutorialAbuse
  • prostitution
  • pseudonym
  • Public Schools
  • racialdiscrimination
  • Radio
  • RahmEmanuel
  • redistricting
  • Regulation
  • religion
  • RickPerry
  • right-to-work
  • Russia
  • Santa Barbara Shooting
  • scandal
  • schoolsecurity
  • SecondAmendment
  • sexist
  • sexual harassment
  • SharylAttkisson
  • Sheriff David Clarke
  • smart gun technology
  • SmokingBan
  • socialism
  • Soros
  • sports
  • StateDepartmentgate
  • SteveLevitt
  • stimulus
  • StudentsforCConCampus
  • SupremeCourt
  • Talks
  • Taxes
  • Taylor Woolrich
  • technology undermining gov regulation
  • technologycausingcrime
  • technologysavinglives
  • technologysolvingcrime
  • television
  • Terrorism
  • thugishgovernment
  • Tina Fey
  • TomCorbett
  • transparency
  • TSA
  • UK
  • UN
  • unemployment
  • Unions
  • VAgate
  • VoteFraud
  • voting
  • waitingperiod
  • wealthtransfers
  • Wikipedia
  • womenssuffrage
  • womenversusmen
  • ZeroTolerance

Blog Archive

  • ►  2015 (13)
    • ►  January (13)
  • ▼  2014 (487)
    • ►  December (40)
    • ►  November (33)
    • ►  October (53)
    • ►  September (45)
    • ►  August (37)
    • ►  July (42)
    • ►  June (52)
    • ▼  May (77)
      • In the Santa Barbara killings, the media tries to ...
      • Britain's National Ballistics Intelligence Service...
      • Continued media misinformation on gun-free zones a...
      • "Wide support for 'gun violence restraining orders'"
      • Seriously? Father faced criminal penalties for ha...
      • Media Matters gets things wrong again: "Gun Resear...
      • House Democrats consider pushing gun control this ...
      • Economy shrinks by 1 percent in First Quarter
      • Newest piece at National Review Online: "Bloomberg...
      • Newest Fox News piece: Memo to gun-control advocat...
      • This is getting very embarrassing: After first not...
      • Do you want an idea of how difficult it is to use ...
      • Do mentally ill, multiple victim killers purposefu...
      • My review of Piketty's book at Amazon
      • Piketty's incredibly weak response to the Financia...
      • The push for gun control after the Santa Barbara a...
      • New Breitbart article on the Crime Prevention Rese...
      • In push for gun control, Bloomberg's Moms Demand A...
      • Another mass killer who probably supported gun con...
      • Democrats pushing for $60 million to "study" gun v...
      • Six people killed, seven wounded in deadly multipl...
      • A sensible policy on open carry of long guns
      • Jews apparently targeted in shooting at Brussels J...
      • The coming massive health insurance bailout
      • Six of the eight federal judges who have struck do...
      • Piketty's book contained data errors that complete...
      • With all the corruption and unnecessary deaths in ...
      • Congressionally Redistricting in Democratically Co...
      • Front door sign banning guns apparently didn't sto...
      • North Carolina homeowner shots one of four intrude...
      • Politico poll shows "mounting danger for Democrats"
      • On Washington DC's WMAL: Chipotle asked its custom...
      • So what caused crime rates to go up in 2012 in Chi...
      • My newest piece at National Review Online: "A Repl...
      • "Conservative Filmmaker D’Souza Pleads Guilty to E...
      • Newest piece at National Review Online: "Another R...
      • Chipotle asked its customers to stop bringing guns...
      • Zero Tolerance wackiness: "Fencing Team Banned Fro...
      • General data on concealed handgun permits for five...
      • So what caused crime rates to go up in 2012 in Chi...
      • Waste in Chicago Police Department
      • Only 37 percent of Americans trust the federal gov...
      • Roundup of news on Veterans Affairs Scandal
      • Gallup: Percent of Americans who believe that deat...
      • Exciting new cancer treatment wipes out woman's ca...
      • Ending Democracy in the US?: Evidence of Obama's c...
      • With Drug Cartel Violence Rampant, Mexican governm...
      • $1.2 billion in tax dollars wasted on Obamacare co...
      • In 2013, Obama administration released 36,000 ille...
      • "UCLA prof says stats prove school's admissions il...
      • Bloomberg's groups claim victory in "Jack in the B...
      • With rampant corruption in even how crime statisti...
      • Newest piece at National Review: "Another Round in...
      • Is there even one death penalty execution where th...
      • Do you need more proof that government is ineffici...
      • "Rogoff-Reinhart data scandal"
      • Glenn Beck w/ John Lott author of "At The Brink"
      • Colorado's background check law prevents law-abidi...
      • More De Blasio hypocrisy, he cracks down on pedest...
      • So much for the claim that people are retiring ear...
      • Tea party donors audited at 10 times the rate of o...
      • Newest piece at National Review: "The Shaky Case a...
      • Missouri to vote on revised state constitutional p...
      • Ratio of self identified Republican to Democrat jo...
      • Federal Election Commission warns that it wants to...
      • Why gun control will be a very major issue in the ...
      • What is it with Bloomberg trying to take over nati...
      • Response to Jack D’Aurora's column in the Columbus...
      • Shaming people for crimes: Websites showing people...
      • Appearance on Judge Jeanine's show on Fox News: Wh...
      • Can someone name me one college where faculty have...
      • My son Maxim has a piece on Gary Becker at Fox News
      • The calm before the storm: polls moving in the rig...
      • Black Pastor says Stand Your Ground laws help blacks
      • Newest piece at Fox News: Media bias on gun free z...
      • How much do people like the state that they live i...
      • Nice review of More Guns, Less Crime by a board-ce...
    • ►  April (52)
    • ►  March (56)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

kitkat boom
View my complete profile