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Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Written by: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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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 Library section along with the audio.

©2014 the President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
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What the critics say

"L.J. Ganser's voice and accents are superb, and emphasis is well placed." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Capital in the Twenty-First Century

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Really good information about inequality

I was not sure if I was going to like the book, I have read some reviews and some did not paint a good picture but I actually enjoyed the book, even if you do not agree with the main claim of the book (r> G) I do believe the good is worth the time to read it or listen to it, the information presented is really good and the explanations are clear, I really think is a good book and deserves the commotion that created when it first appeared, the last three chapters are really good.

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Instant classic

This has got to be one of the most important works of Political economy, indeed of social science generally, ever written. Required reading for anyone concerned with the future of capitalism, democracy, and world history.

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Great book, but images are essential here

I don't study economics, but this book helps explain it, for advanced and lay readers. I do have to read it again to fully understand what was written, but that's on me. Great book, and a huge argument for the merits of a wealth tax.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Eye opening, but dry

This book is absolutely packed with information that will open your eyes to how the economy ebbs and flows. However it can be difficult to get tbrough as there are sections that are just statistics being read to the listener.

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very dense

this book was very dense, and I needed to concentrate to understand what he was arguing. it might be better to read this in paper format, but I found that taking notes helped me to concentrate on the argument.

tickety is thorough, detailed and very persuasive. he draws on a variety of sources, including novels from the 18th and 19th centuries. if you want to understand more about the economics of inequality you should read this book. If you have difficulty following complex arguments you should stay away.

the PDFs for this audiobook are included when you download it, and it is extremely difficult to understand what he is arguing without looking at the diagrams. A big part of this book is understanding proportion and scale, and that can't be adequately conveyed audibly. You have to see the diagrams to really get an intuitive understanding.

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Life-altering, fantastic

This book will be, to many, a bit much to wade through. I can say myself that I'd been intending to read it for four and a half years and was saved from failing myself only by a few weeks of monotonous labour and this audio format.

But it is absolutely scintillating, if given the opportunity, and is knowledge that should be encouragingly thrust upon even the seemingly uninterested.

It is not lost on me, the cosmic joke of me consuming this information and knowledge as I toiled in the sun this summer, but it is not a book about socialism or revolution or even seizure of wealth.

This book explains, quite succinctly I feel despite it's length, in exhaustively researched detail some of the serious and long standing inequities and corruptions entrenched in society that work against those who help to propagate it. The proletariat, myself obviously included, DESERVE to read or listen to this book. Thomas Piketty, though this is my introduction to his work, is a very skilled author and fair debater with a pragmatic but firm moral center.

I believe I trend to the left of the Author, politically, but I have no criticism of his works or any issue with his ethics. This is a masterpiece, I pray only I can convince many of my friends and family to take the time to read it.

5 stars or whatever, 3 thumbs up, etc.

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Wonderful and insightful

Undoubtedly a dense book, the subject and its main focus is complex and has a long history. Piketty does a wonderful job of collecting, analyzing and deriving appropriately justified and far reaching conclusions about money an inequality.

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Made me think!

This book is rather heavy reading material on economic history, fiscal mechanisms and macro theory. But taken slowly and thoroughly, the information is deeply informative and the analysis insightfully stimulating. You do not need formal economic background but a good background in basic economics and fiscal politics doesn’t hurt. The conclusions drawn are clearly controversial but so credibly presented that you wish you spend a day asking questions.

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hernias are less painful than this

dude wants a global tax. not enough walls in the world to bang your head on listening to this crap

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A narrowed minded book on how to deal with inequality

Long narrative to try to fit a story into a clash of classes where the only answer to the inequality problem is tax more and as per the authors words “utopian” and unrealistic solutions.
Read it hoping to learn something, but wasted my time

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