Jürg Helbling Recommends “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty

Abstract

Piketty puts economic inequality back on the agenda not only of economic debate but also of public discussion at large. Whereas mainstream economics considers budget restrictions for households and firms and emphasizes the importance of private property rights, Piketty addresses the unequal distribution of wealth and its consequences for economic growth and social stability. For him, economics is a social science—or political economy—that seeks to contribute to an understanding not only of the current problems but also of the history of industrial-capitalist societies by taking political structures and processes into account as well. Piketty uses a historical and statistical approach to examine the development of the unequal distribution of wealth in Europe and the United States since the late eighteenth century.