From the NC article:

One thing we miss in this process is that if ownership of wealth was equally distributed, it wouldn't matter whether r > g in terms of its impact in inequality. Or more precisely, institutional settings can be designed to combat any social force that concentrates wealth if we so desire, and if it is politically palatable.

I do not see a relation between these two statements. So we just need the institutions to concentrate on giving "r" to everyone? Firstly, that would be the ultimate acknowledgement that productive "g" is for fools, that "g" has to be exploited with meager reward. Someone has to produce more than "save" anyway. Secondly - Capitalism is then the ultimate casino, and we are forcefully invited to play.

Institutions could be designed and build to do any good - until they co-opted to do the opposite. The post-WWII institutions are failing for exactly this corruption reason.

Well, I would (and will) argue that, although you can make a case that r>g is almost a constant, it is not because of any actual economic grand truth, but because of a politics constant that the wishes of the mighty are listened to and acted upon.

r is constantly being propped up. Increasingly so under threat: "you give that to us or we move our capital to China/Caiman Island... insert wherever".
Interestingly, that is also the argument of the "super-managers", pretending that they must be paid a fortune because it is a global market where others are paid a fortune and they would leave the minute they were given a penny less.

When French CEOs claim that, it is quite extraordinary. For, as a few minutes of observations would show, the number of French CEOs of foreign mega multinational corporations is... zero (unless you count Renault-Nissan as a Japanese company, and anyway Ghosn is binational).

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi

r > g ?

Rate of return is greater than growth?

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre