Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a book by French economist Thomas Piketty. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the US since the 18th century.

The 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. 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.

The French version of the book has sold over 50,000 copies while the English version as of 24 April 2014 has sold approximately 80,000 printed copies and over 13,000 digital copies; Harvard University Press expecting to sell an additional 200,000 copies. The book reached number one on The New York Times bestselling hardcover nonfiction list in the list dated May 18, 2014.

Links

 * The book's official website
 * Text from Introduction to Capital in the Twenty-First Century
 * All the raw data from the book
 * YouTube video of Thomas Piketty describing Capital in the Twenty-First Century
 * A summary of the book with six charts by John Cassidy
 * Challenging the Empirical Contribution of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century by Phillip W. Magness and Robert P. Murphy, December 2014
 * Thomas Piketty's economic data 'came out of thin air' by Jamie Doward, May 2014
 * A Piketty problem? by R.A., The Economist, May 2014
 * Did Thomas Piketty Get His Math Wrong? by Neil Irwin, May 2014
 * Plunder in the 21st Century by The Freeman, May 2014
 * Thomas Piketty on Inequality and Capital by Hunter Lewis and Peter G. Klein, April 2014
 * Thomas Piketty’s Improbable Data by Hunter Lewis, May 2014
 * Piketty and Capital by Peter G. Klein, April 2014
 * Piketty on Inequality Randall G. Holcombe, May 2014
 * Thomas Piketty Refuted (audio) with Robert P. Murphy and Thomas E. Woods, Jr., May 2014
 * Piketty's Capital and Actual Capital by Randall G. Holcombe, May 2014
 * Mises View Video: "Inequality and Capital" (video) with Robert P. Murphy, April 2014

Editions

 * Le Capital au XXIe siècle (French), Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 2013, ISBN 9782021082289
 * Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Harvard University Press, 2014, ISBN 9780674430006