Piketty refuses Legion d'Honneur

Influential French economist Thomas Piketty, author of 'Capital in the 21st Century', on Thursday refused to accept the country's highest award, the Legion d'Honneur, to criticize the Socialist Government in power. "I refuse this nomination because I do not think it is the government's role to decide who is honourable. They would do better to concenterate on reviving (economic) growth..." he told AFP. (Source: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/9ZywSvRuKMDO3KHYIEGDBL/Thomas-Piketty-refuses-French-honour-says-nation-should-foc.html)

It is very interesting because quite recently we in India had a controversy over award of the highest Indian Civilian honour- the 'Bharat Ratna'. Chapeau to M. Piketty for putting the issue in a totally different perspective!