Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Review Capital in the Twenty-First Century
by THOMAS PIKETTY
Description
What drives Accumulation and Distribution capital is the focus of discussion of the book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” The book goes at length about the issues of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospect of economic growth. These concerns are at the center of Political economy—concerns that have never been answered to a great extent, and therefore have never been resolved.
Through the book, data that attempt at explaining the aforementioned issues are examined and exhausted. For this cause, a total of 20 countries have been the subject of the study. The author, Thomas Piketty, traces economic development as far back as the 18th century, in his attempt at finding economic patterns and social behaviors that might have factored into how Political economy is the way that it is.
The book discusses the following topics effectively:
- Modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge
- Structures of capital and inequality
- The tendency of returns on capital to go above the rate of economic growth
Readers have branded the book as ambitious and rigorous. They see it as an outstanding work of economic history as it ultimately educates us with lessons that will imbue in us greater regard for how we view money and economy. A number of readers even went as far as to declare that “Capital” is the most important book in economics. According to them, Piketty’s treatment of inequality is significant to today’s global financial situation.
About the Author
A French economist, Thomas Piketty, is an expert on wealth and income inequality. He works as a professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and the Paris School of Economics. He is also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics at the new International Inequalities Institute.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One: Income and Capital
- 1 – Income and Output
- 2 – Growth: Illusions and Realities
- Part Two: The Dynamics of the Capital/Income Ratio
- 3 – The Metamorphoses of Capital
- 4 – From Old Europe to the New World
- 5 – The Capital/Income Ratio over the Long Run
- 6 – The Capital-Labor Split in the Twenty-First Century
- Part Three: The Structure of Inequality
- 7 – Inequality and Concentration: Preliminary Bearings
- 8 – Two Worlds
- 9 – Inequality of Labor Income
- 10 – Inequality of Capital Ownership
- 11 – Merit and Inheritance in the Long Run
- 12 – Global Inequality of Wealth in the Twenty-First Century
- Part Four: Regulating Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- 13 – A Social State for the Twenty-First Century
- 14 – Rethinking the Progressive Income Tax
- 15 – The Question of the Public Debt
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Contents in Detail
- List of Tables and Illustrations
- Index
