about capital in the twenty first century

The book thus argues that, unless capitalism is reformed, the very democratic order will be threatened. The central thesis of the book is that inequality is not an accident, but rather a feature of capitalism, and can only be reversed through state interventionism. Within a year of its publication, Stephanie Kelton spoke of a 'Piketty phenomenon', and in Germany three books had been published specifically dealing with Piketty's critique. It proved an overnight sensation and ousted Michael Lewis's financial exposé, Flash Boys: Cracking the Money Code, from the top of the US best-seller list. In response to widespread curiosity abroad aroused by reviews of the original French edition published by Seuil in September 2013, it was translated rapidly into English and its publication date was pushed forward to March 2014 by Belknap. As news spread of its thesis in the English-speaking world, Paul Krugman hailed it as a landmark, while former senior World Bank economist Branko Milanović considers it 'one of the watershed books in economic thinking'. When initially issued in French in August 2013, Laurent Mauduit characterized it as 'a political and theoretical bulldozer'. The book has been adapted into a feature documentary film, directed by New Zealand filmmaker Justin Pemberton. As of January 2015, the book had sold 1.5 million copies in French, English, German, Chinese, and Spanish. On May 18, 2014, the English edition reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list for best selling hardcover nonfiction and became the greatest sales success ever of academic publisher Harvard University Press. He also noted that r > g is not a useful tool for the discussion of rising inequality of labor income. Piketty proposes a global system of progressive wealth taxes to help reduce inequality and avoid the vast majority of wealth coming under the control of a tiny minority.Īt the end of 2014, Piketty released a paper where he stated that he does not consider the relationship between the rate of return on capital and the rate of economic growth as the only or primary tool for considering changes in income and wealth inequality. The book's central thesis is that when the rate of return on capital ( r) is greater than the rate of economic growth ( g) over the long term, the result is concentration of wealth, and this unequal distribution of wealth causes social and economic instability.

It was initially published in French (as Le Capital au XXIe siècle) in August 2013 an English translation by Arthur Goldhammer followed in April 2014. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century. Capital in the Twenty-First Century ( French: Le Capital au XXIe siècle) is a book written by French economist Thomas Piketty.

About capital in the twenty first century