Paris School of Economics professor Thomas Piketty will stand at the podium of the 2014 World Knowledge forum (WKF). This marks the first visit to South Korea by Mr Thomas Piketty who has taken the world by storm with his publication ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century.’ The professor will attend the preliminary event at the WKF.

The event will be held at Dynasty Hall, Shilla Hotel, at 9:00 a.m. on September 19. It will feature the professor’s lecture and heated discussions among scholars at home and abroad.

In the book titled ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century,’ the French economist pointed out the structure of income and wealth inequality could worsen. The professor amazed the world’s economic academic world by analyzing wealth inequality based on the vast data which cover three hundred years.

Paul Krugman, a professor in Princeton University and Nobel prize winner in economics, extolled Mr Thomas Piketty’s account, saying, “his theory is discourse-changing work in economics.”

However, renowned scholars remain divided over what aggravates inequality. A global system of progressive wealth tax, which the professor proposed as a solution to curb inequality, was met with a flood of criticism that it is not effective at all. Harvard University professor N. Gregory Mankiw criticized that asset income and labor income should be distinguished, while the Financial Times raised suspicion about the data used by Professor Piketty.

The craze for Piketty took off in earnest in South Korea early this year when the English version of his book was released. However, because the Korean translation had not been released due to the huge number of pages nearing 1,000, a proper understanding of Prof. Piketty’s had been hard to come by despite the sensational popularity. Amidst the reality of worsening income inequality, there is the possibility of creating the misunderstanding that Piketty provides the sole solution to the problem.

The secretariat office of the World Knowledge Forum, therefore, deemed it critical to accurately introduce and present the Piketty debate to the public to see the truth and misunderstanding. The secretariat office is confident that the preliminary event of the 15th World Knowledge Forum will provide an optimum opportunity to do so.

As the event is expected to draw a lot of attention, only those with invitations can participate. Those who have registered with the World Knowledge Forum are eligible to participate in the pre-event program.

Chances to participate will also be offered to subscribers of online Maeil Business Newspaper through a draw throughout August 31.

Some of those who click the “Like” button and leave questions as comments on the World Knowledge Forum Facebook site will also be given a chance to directly question Prof. Piketty in the preliminary event.

Those who want to participate in the preliminary event should send an email to 15pre@mk.co.kr with name, institution, title, address and mobile phone number. The secretariat will send out invitations after a draw. 


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