The New York Times addresses the publication of Thomas Piketty’s critically-lauded book on capital accumulation and income inequality this week, questioning how the work, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, can be applied to the art world, where the vast increase in high-figure spending has priced many interested parties out from buying works  “The art market has become an excuse for banking in public,” says dealer Ivor Braka. “People are displaying wealth in the most ostentatious way possible. It’s luxury goods shopping gone wild.” (more…)