For Piketty, capital accumulation is a process that occurs without external influence on consumer preferences, a process that has no relation to the price incentives faced by people within the economy (Mankiw, 2015 ). A more realistic view of capital accumulation and the negative effect that progressive taxes on capital would have on it leads me to believe that this policy has a cost. Taxes on capital could potentially lead to reduced output and a decline in real wages as firms and shareholders use inefficient production methods to avoid higher tax brackets and, furthermore, due to the ratio of capital per worker to output clear. There is now a trade-off between the negative outcomes resulting from persistent wealth inequality and the potential for lower labor market outcomes and efficiencies (Mankiw,