French economist Thomas Piketty rose to global prominence last year when he proposed a progressive global tax on wealth. After analyzing figures from archives dating back 250 years, he argued that economic inequality has risen to socially unacceptable levels, and that the problem can be corrected only with the redistribution of the world's wealth. Unsurprisingly, reactions to Piketty's proposal and foreboding predictions have been many and varied. But more important, his idea has raised a critical question: How should we correct the growing imbalance within society, and does it even need to be corrected at all?...
