‘Piketty is a genius, but … ’: an analysis of journalistic delegitimation of Thomas Piketty’s economic policy proposals

Rieder, Maria; Theine, Hendrik

doi:10.1080/17405904.2019.1573148

Cited by 36 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The number of survey respondents was quite small, and a more comprehensive empirical study would surely benefit scholarship on journalism practice and economic expertise. Moreover, this article sidelined influential international economic institutions, like the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), not to mention such globally prominent superstar economists as Thomas Piketty, whose arguments are debated in the public sphere (see Rieder and Theine 2019).…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Hierarchy of Credibility” among Economic Experts: Journalists’ Perceptions of Experts with Varying Institutional Affiliations

Harjuniemi

2021

Journalism Practice

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Economic journalism is dependent on journalists working closely with expert sources to produce factual and nonpartisan news and analyses about economic policy. Thus, the experts routinely used in economic journalism wield power when defining the economic reality and the possibilities for policy-making. Building on 19 semi-structured interviews with Finnish economic and political journalists and a questionnaire survey conducted among journalists (N = 42), this article contributes to the existing literature on journalism practice and economic expertise by analysing how journalists perceive the credibility of various economic experts. The article draws from literature on the "hierarchy of credibility" concept and argues that journalists regard experts working for government authorities and research institutes as more credible than economic experts employed by, for example, private banks. The article argues that while a "hierarchy of credibility" exists among economic expert groups, it is difficult to make clear-cut demarcations between objective expertise and advocacy in economic journalism. Such results highlight the need for nuanced analyses on the role of economic expertise in journalism practice and in public life.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Hierarchy of Credibility” among Economic Experts: Journalists’ Perceptions of Experts with Varying Institutional Affiliations

Harjuniemi

2021

Journalism Practice

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“…We find that two competing frames (DiMaggio et al, 2013 )—an economic efficiency frame and a social justice frame—variously imbue the wealth tax with meaning. While prior research finds that in public discourse on the taxation of wealth, purported negative economic implications are often invoked to underline opposition to this measure (Leipold, 2019 ; Lichtenstein et al, 2016 ; Rieder & Theine, 2019 ), we need more systematic evidence for how arguments that are crafted in the political sphere might resonate with a broader public. Our findings suggest that evocative language and political symbolism may play a crucial role in this regard: in the parliamentary debates we analyse, Conservatives’ use of the efficiency frame often rests on biological metaphors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…For instance, Lichtenstein et al ( 2016 ) study media representations in 2013, an election year, and find that worries about negative economic consequences of the wealth tax are a dominant theme across different types of media outlets, over and above favourable arguments around its redistributive effects, considerations about how the revenue could be used, and legal issues concerning its feasibility as well as its implementation. Rieder and Theine ( 2019 ) investigate how the policy proposals put forward by French economist Piketty are portrayed in the media in Germany and four additional European countries in 2014 and 2015. Focusing on counter-arguments to Piketty’s suggestions, the authors find a set of highly symbolically charged arguments that focus on negative economic consequences of taxing wealth as well as on discursive strategies such as portraying “the rich and entrepreneurs as victims lacking agency in the face of an aggressive, overpowering and abusive state” (ibid.…”

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our investigation contributes to an emerging literature that analyses how issues of wealth taxation are publicly debated. While prior studies have mostly focused on public discourse in the media (Leipold, 2019 ; Lichtenstein et al, 2016 ; Rieder & Theine, 2019 ), our study is the first to analyse the parliamentary debate over time. In modern democratic polities, the parliament is an important site of communication, deliberation, and coordination, both between different political actors as well as vis-a-vis the larger public (van Dijk, 1997 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Poison to the Economy”: (Un-)Taxing the Wealthy in the German Federal Parliament from 1996 to 2016

Hilmar

Sachweh

2022

Soc Just Res

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The concentration of wealth is a key component of the rise in economic inequality at the beginning of the twenty-first century. While the abolition of taxes on private wealth during the 1990s and 2000s is recognized as an important institutional driver behind this development, comparatively little is known about the justification of tax cuts for the wealthy in advanced democracies. This paper investigates how the abolishment of the personal net wealth tax in Germany, a country with high levels of wealth inequality, has been debated and justified in parliament over a period of 20 years. Using a mixed methods approach that combines computational social science methods and a qualitative analysis, we examine how Germany’s two major parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD), have variously construed the meaning and purpose of the wealth tax and justified their support for or opposition to it. While the Social Democrats debate the wealth tax primarily from a social justice perspective, the Christian Democrats rely on an efficiency frame that invokes biological metaphors, enabling them to narrate the wealth tax as a threat to the social body. Paradoxically, then, by arguing that the tax is “poison to the economy”, conservative discourse succeeds in linking opposition to the wealth tax to a principle of social unity. On these grounds, we suggest that future research should scrutinize how the interrelation between political discourse and institutional architectures has facilitated the rise of wealth inequality in recent decades.

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“…The research on the issue of income inequality and poverty has shown a high degree of correlation and a long-term major problem for all countries of the world (Milanović, 2015). Critical review of Piketty's work was about what to do against the rise of economic inequality which is highly controversy and about agreement with Piketty's policy proposals such as higher taxation on income, wealth and inheritances dropped significantly (Rieder & Theine, 2019).…”

Section: Literary Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Inequality and Poverty in European Union

Škorić¹,

Bjelić²,

Nikolić³

et al. 2019

ACE

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Excessive accumulation and raising income inequality re- flected on the high rates of poverty in the European Union countries. Economic literature has wide research on the link between income inequality and economic growth. However, knowledge about correlation between income inequality and poverty is scare. In this paper, we have proved that poverty is not synonymous for income ine- quality, but that is a product of income inequality. Income inequality, measured by the Gini coefficient, reflected the movement of the percentage of the population who are at risk of poverty. The coefficient of simple on correlation showed that income inequality affects the growth risk of poverty in the countries of the European Union. Besides poverty, as a consequence of income inequality, other socio-economic problems also appeared: the suppression of economic growth, the rise in crime rate, the decline in the quality of education and health, the political inequal- ity growth. All these problems should warn governments to take economic policy for reducing economic inequal- ity. The European Union, as an area of 28 member states, needs to carefully select economic policy instruments to reduce income inequality and ensure stable ground for economic growth. The differences between the level of development, the index of democracy, income and liv- ing standards in observed countries have influenced the difficulty in observing the problem and computing math- ematical and statistical connection. Through equalization of incomes, the European Union could solve problems of poverty, social exclusion and democracy (measured by index of democracy).

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‘Piketty is a genius, but … ’: an analysis of journalistic delegitimation of Thomas Piketty’s economic policy proposals

Abstract: View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles 'Piketty is a genius, but … ': an analysis of journalistic delegitimation of Thomas Piketty's economic policy proposals

Cited by 36 publications

References 26 publications

The “Hierarchy of Credibility” among Economic Experts: Journalists’ Perceptions of Experts with Varying Institutional Affiliations

The “Hierarchy of Credibility” among Economic Experts: Journalists’ Perceptions of Experts with Varying Institutional Affiliations

“Poison to the Economy”: (Un-)Taxing the Wealthy in the German Federal Parliament from 1996 to 2016

Economic Inequality and Poverty in European Union

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