Abstract

This volume of essays builds upon renewed interest in the long-run global development of wealth and inequality stimulated by the publication of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. It brings together an international team of leading economic historians and economists to provide an overview of global developments in the theory and reality of inequality, and its salience in the modern world order. The contributors take stock of the key concepts involved in contemporary debates – capital, wealth and income distribution, economic development, private and collective assets, financialization – and evaluate the evidence for both common and contrasting historical trends in national statistical data sources. To the developed economies upon which Piketty drew are added contributions covering Latin America, Africa, India and Japan, providing a global perspective upon a global phenomenon. The book seeks to provide readers with a deeper awareness and understanding of the significance of inequality in economic development, the varying pace and nature of economic change around the world, and the manner in which this process of change affects the distribution of incomes and wealth in diverse economies. The collection marks an important step in the process of developing Piketty’s analytical framework and empirical material, overcoming some of their limitations and helping to cement a lasting place for inequality in the future agenda of economics and economic history.
“This splendid book validates Thomas Piketty’s Capital precisely through its lucid, comprehensive and in places devastating critique of his capital theory and empirical methods. It is a landmark, a model of scholarly engagement at the highest level.” – James K. Galbraith, University of Texas at Austin * “Drawing in a critical and reasoned manner on the work of Thomas Piketty, this clear and rigorous book assembles leading specialists in the field to propose a global analysis of inequality. In remarkably illuminating fashion, it evokes the tragedy of inequalities in the dynamic of capitalist systems in the long term and places into stark relief the urgency for well informed action.” – Philippe Minard, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales * "This excellent volume effectively exploits and builds on ‘the Piketty opportunity’: the contested new terrain created by Thomas Piketty’s challenge to mainstream economics and economic history. With their deep knowledge of the history of the study of inequality in various regions of the world and in the discipline of economics, the contributors engage critically with Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century to provide a plethora of new insights and important alternative policy proposals. This volume demonstrates why public policy-makers need to pay full attention to historians in grappling with the political trilemma of our age posed by Piketty: democracy, capitalism and inequality." – Simon Szreter, Professor of History and Public Policy, University of Cambridge