Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Piketty writes in a factual, nonradical style. He considers the patterns of inequality throughout history rather than looking for answers in econometric equations and formulas. The narratives and insights Piketty gleans from his epic research confirm a fundamental trend: Inequality is growing. While his main recommendation to fix this problem – an international wealth tax – seems ideological, the book itself is not. Piketty provides a convincing, cool-headed narrative as to why you don’t have to be a socialist to justify addressing capitalism’s flaws with a tax on capital. Economists also appreciate how he captures new historical data, a task enabled by the Internet. He’s taken the opportunity this multidimensional viewpoint presents and produced a classic.

Piketty offers these lessons: