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Economist Piketty turns down top French honour

France's star economist Thomas Piketty, who shot to fame and topped best-seller lists in 2014 with his controversial book on wealth and inequality, has declined the country's highest award, the Legion d'Honneur.

Thomas Piketty's bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century has divided the world of economics. Credit: TT

Piketty told the AFP news agency:

I refuse this nomination because I don't think it's up to a government to say who is honourable.

They would do better to focus on reviving growth in France and Europe.

– Thomas Piketty

Together with Nobel Economics laureate Jean Tirole and Nobel Literature prize winner Patrick Modiano, Piketty was named on a list of new recipients of the Legion d'Honneur, awarded by President Francois Hollande.

His book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" has attracted both praise and invective on its way to the top of the Amazon.com books best-seller list.