SUMMARY - Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty

* Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic. It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes.



*By reading this summary, you will learn that the very unequal global distribution of wealth in the 21st century is likely to increase in worrying proportions if nothing is done to curb this trend.



*You will also discover that : capital, at all times, tends to be concentrated in a few hands or countries; only a succession of world wars and crises has made it possible to redistribute wealth more equitably; strong growth allows more equal access to wealth, but this is only a short-term solution; no natural phenomenon has ever controlled or limited the accumulation of capital ; only a progressive tax on wealth would make it possible to curb the inequalities caused by capitalism.



*Capital in the 21st century is an ambitious work: it draws up, for the very first time, a global panorama of the distribution of wealth from the 18th century to the present day, based on the most reliable international data on income and wealth.



*Previously, most of the economists who have marked history, from Malthus to Kuznets to Marx, lacked not only hindsight but also reliable sources, when they did not use the latter for ideological or political purposes.



*Yet it is clear that, over three centuries, the distribution of wealth is as much linked to economic factors as to political and social choices.



*Buy now the summary of this book for the modest price of a cup of coffee!