ABSTRACT
Piketty returns repeatedly to this Declaration, which proclaims that "men are born free and remain free and equal in rights". Piketty's politics are grounded in this notion of equality of rights, which the social state is organized to protect. Piketty opens a potentially expansive view of the social state, requiring a considerable spread of wealth and democratic control of capital. Tax policy is Piketty's foundation for economic democracy, that is, the spreading of control over capital to the disinherited majority, so that they can fashion a decent collective life for all. Taxes are the indispensible approach to achieve both economic and political democracy, all in the service of Piketty's philosophy of equal rights. Piketty repeatedly emphasizes that locating wealth globally is crucially important for gaining democratic control of capital, regulating financial markets, and protecting democracy itself. Piketty's focus on inequality is clearly animated by the concern that patrimonial capitalism can easily erode democracy and create autocracy or plutocracy.
