Piketty presented in his Capital in 21th Century that the share the top 0.1% in income and wealth hierarchy got from total income had considerably increased in Anglo-saxon countries (the US, the UK, Canada and Australia) during 1970-2010 timespan. While investigating the causes of 2008 Great Recession, it is well documented, reported and subjected for court cases that the financial capital represented by commercial and investment banks in Anglo-saxon world, mainly the Wall Street in the US and the City in the United Kingdom, established oligopolistic structures in financial services, credit rating, libor and media industries and these structures caused conflicts of interest, lack of transparency and accountability, demoralization in business ethic, rent seeking and privatization of gains and socialization of losses during 1970-2007 timespan. This paper argues that the top 0.1% income and wealth group has a role in the oligopolistic structures that cause 2008 Great Recession. Economically powerful groups affect the functioning of the economy and inherently the notion of economic system that depends on methodological individualism and self-regulating properties of Neo-classical paradigm should be examined.
Key words: Piketty, Income and Wealth Distribution, Oligopoly, 2008 Great Recession, Mainstream Economics. JEL Codes: D43, D63, D72 Article Language: EnglishTurkish
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