Abstract

Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century has been hailed as a masterpiece, making a powerful case that wealth inequality is not an accident, but rather an inherent feature of capitalism. But how many of us who bought or borrowed the book have read more than a fraction of its 700+ pages? And how many of Piketty’s groundbreaking ideas have gone unappreciated, all for want of intellectual stamina?

In this handy volume, Jesper Roine – whose own work was relied upon by Piketty – explains in clear and accessible prose the key concepts behind, and controversies surrounding, Piketty’s landmark work.

Jesper Roine is an expert on wealth and income inequality, as well as one of the researchers who has contributed to the World Top Incomes Database upon which Piketty’s research is based. He is an associate professor of Economics at SITE at the Stockholm School of Economics and has been published, extensively, on the topic of income and wealth inequality. Together with his colleague Daniel Waldenström at Uppsala University, he is responsible for the Swedish data on long-run income and wealth inequality used in Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

‘This book is for people who were interested in Piketty's analysis of inequality, but found his book too ponderous to finish. That includes me! Roine compresses Piketty's magnum opus down to 160 digestible pages, not by losing detail, but by expressing the essential data and analysis in a concise, accessible way.’
Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics

'A very readable summary of Piketty’s important book, written by a leading expert on inequality data.'
Per Krusell, Chair of the Committee for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

'Provides invaluable support for students interested in Piketty’s landmark work and the debate that it has generated. This book is one that every student reading Capital in the Twenty First Century should use.’
Sara Gorgoni, University of Greenwich

‘An authoritative, coherent and clearly written introduction to Piketty. It is a much needed critical guide to Piketty’s work and an invaluable teaching tool.’
Ioana Negru, SOAS

'An ideal companion to Piketty. For students and those in need of easier access to Piketty’s work, Roine lays out the story in clear terms while providing very useful historical and economic background.'
David Stasavage, New York University

'Jesper Roine has written a superb summary of the most talked-about economics book of the 21st century. Jesper’s sharp analytical mind, deep social interest and his own respected research in the field make him the ideal author of a book like this.'
Magnus Henrekson, Research Institute of Industrial Economics