

The proper role of public intellectuals is to question accepted dogmas, conceive of new methods of analysis, and expand the terms of public debate. In this 'patrimonial society,' a small group of wealthy rentiers lives lavishly on the fruits of its inherited wealth, and the rest struggle to keep up.

Eventually, Piketty says, we could see the reemergence of a world familiar to nineteenth-century Europeans he cites the novels of Austen and Balzac.


Paul Krugman * New York Times *Ī sweeping account of rising inequality. He also makes a powerful case that we're on the way back to 'patrimonial capitalism,' in which the commanding heights of the economy are dominated not just by wealth, but also by inherited wealth, in which birth matters more than effort and talent. Piketty, arguably the world's leading expert on income and wealth inequality, does more than document the growing concentration of income in the hands of a small economic elite. It seems safe to say that Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year-and maybe of the decade. Publisher: Harvard University Press ISBN: 9780674979857 Number of pages: 816 Dimensions: 216 x 140 mm MEDIA REVIEWS It is the most important study of inequality in over fifty years." "Stands a fair chance of becoming the most influential work of economics yet published in our young century. "A sweeping account of rising inequality.Piketty has written a book that nobody interested in a defining issue of our era can afford to ignore." "Piketty has written an extraordinarily important book.In its scale and sweep it brings us back to the founders of political economy." "Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an intellectual tour de force, a triumph of economic history over the theoretical, mathematical modeling that has come to dominate the economics profession in recent years." "The book aims to revolutionize the way people think about the economic history of the past two centuries. "It seems safe to say that Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year-and maybe of the decade." Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Awardįinalist, National Book Critics Circle Award
