Using Thomas Picketty’s Book as a How-to Manual

The financial writer Michael Lewis says somewhere that he was disconcerted to find that some people who read his book Liar’s Poker, which exposes the sometimes sleazy way that big investment banks on Wall Street work, were intrigued by what he was talking about and wanted to be part of it. They saw it as a how-to manual. The same could happen with Picketty’s new book on capital. I know he means it to be a crushing indictment of the super-rich, especially in America, but that won’t prevent some from reading his book for clues on how they themselves can become super-rich. For example, you may be better off marrying into wealth, and you may be better off, if you are Australian, coming to America where the salaries of CEOs have risen faster.

Don’t be surprised, Prof. Picketty, if your book has that sort of impact on some readers!