Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns and shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities. He argues, however, that the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth will generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values if political action is not taken.
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ISBN: 9780674430006 (alk. paper)
ISBN: 067443000X (alk. paper)
Physical Description:printviii, 685 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Publisher:Cambridge Massachusetts :The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,2014.
General Note: Translation of the author's Le capital au XXIe siaecle.
Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note: Income and output -- Growth : illusions and realities -- The metamorphoses of capital -- From old Europe to the new world -- The capital/income ratio over the long run -- The capital-labor split in the twenty-first century -- Inequality and concentration : preliminary bearings -- Two worlds -- Inequality of labor income -- Inequality of capital ownership -- Merit and inheritance in the long run -- Global inequality of wealth in the twenty-first century -- A social state for the twenty-first century -- Rethinking the progressive income tax -- A global tax on capital -- The question of the public debt.