Try free for 30 days
-
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Buy Now for $44.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from 20 countries, ranging as far back as the 18th century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.
Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality - the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth - today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again.
A work of extraordinary ambition, originality, and rigor, Capital in the Twenty-First Century reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
Critic Reviews
What listeners say about Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jacob
- 30-05-2016
not especially well suited to audio
understandable. not too technical, but very detailed with lots of numbers. perhaps better in print.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Frank Webb
- 21-08-2022
interesting academic work but not too aeradite.
aAvery interesting work. took some time to finish it. a concentrated effort. Even for those who have not studies economics, but have a genuine interest in political economy, I think you will find this a very informative listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jake Norris
- 02-03-2021
Great work on wealth and income inequality
Does a great job examining the role of capital and its accumulation in economic inequality - both with national borders and globally.
Really good narration, especially considering it is a translation from French.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brett
- 07-05-2017
Required reading
I made the mistake of listening to rather than reading this brilliant book. With the prevalence of numbers, equations and graphs it would have been better on the page. That said, it is so clearly written that I was still able to follow and absorb the dense content on audio.
This should be required reading for everyone. The breadth and depth of research is incredible, regardless of what you make of Picketty's final suggestions, which he largely cordons off to the closing chapters. This is the ultimate 'step back and see the big picture' explanation of wealth, wages, taxes and the historic interplay thereof. For an economic layman such as myself I now feel like I have a grasp on a subject that is mystified for most of us but affects all of us. In fact, money dictates our lives but we barely understand and certainly don't question the system that distributes it. Another way to think about it: You see that the childish bickering of the daily political news cycle and think you understand economics. Reading the book is stepping back and seeing that the children are all in the same plane as it spirals out of control. Too few people are talking in these broader terms but it's critical that everyone becomes economically literate and this book is the best avenue to do so that I know of. Read it and recommend it to everyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stan
- 20-02-2016
Tough subject well presented
Capital in the 21st century: who thought id occasionally laugh to myself. I'm not a person who has studied economics, but I found this interesting, comprehensible and greatly deepening of my understanding.
The reader did a great job of giving coherence to a challenging read.
The subject matter is compelling - is capital wealth inequality inevitable and what can be done about it. The solution he proposes is almost utopian, though certainly technically feasible.
A fascinating read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- reads:6189182
- 19-10-2021
It's fine.
Not sure why they got a narrator that is really average at French pronunciation and also doesn't really seem to wrap his head around the materials. At points it's really evident he's just saying words with out any real comprehension, also don't want to moan about the thick US accent (I've heard this guy narrate other works where it made sense), but it's not good here, it's at odds with the material.
Also many references to PDF, which is not included, which is annoying.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Justin Taylor
- 07-06-2023
Interesting Thesis
An fascinating review of the modest Capital data of the leading economies. The conclusion prescribes a global approach to taxing capital which would address increasing inequality.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Derek Holder
- 22-01-2015
Compelling argument to change society
Just need to get the broader population to read this comprehensive treatise, so a more successful and just society can be achieved.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- dn thorp
- 28-09-2020
Long but worth it
I feel better informed about inequality after listening to this book. Its scope is vast but the actual conclusions are easily understood, even by dummies such as me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Chris
- 01-05-2023
a globalist socialist and dreaming
Thomas is clearly a socialist, globalist and seeks a global tax while living in his ivory French western tower.
A man who doesn't understand the greater world outside the west, with very naive, school-boyish opinions.
A man who clearly has not read anything of Lord John Dalberg Acton known as the magistrate of history and famously is quoted saying "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
This book tells a lovely picture of a utopia that cannot be achieved in the real world, and is yet more Marxist/socialist drivel which has been proven throughout history to lead to poverty and starvation.
It should be relegated to the fiction section.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!