Piketty has written a data-driven book on economic history, which is accessible to a broad audience. The book is full of graphs (even more so than this review) and involves calculations and equations in its arguments. In my opinion, this makes it a better work of scholarship than most other books about history. As with most (all?) books on economics, there is a political bias. What bias? Well, this is a book with the word ‘Capital’ written in big red letters across the cover. It has been politically influential. Piketty convinced Elizabeth Warren to advocate for a wealth tax. The power of capital, relative to income, fell dramatically during the World Wars and Great Depression. Since then, capital has been making a comeback. Piketty expects this trend to continue. The growth of capital is inherently faster than the growth of income in a capitalist society, except during major crises like World Wars. To counteract this, Piketty proposes a global tax on wealth.
