, written by Thomas Piketty, is an influential economic history that chronicles the evolution of wealth and income inequality from the 18th century to today. The Core Narrative: Piketty’s story is built around a central formula: . This means that the rate of return on capital (
This concentration of wealth was only interrupted by the "shocks" of the two World Wars and the Great Depression, which destroyed capital and led to high taxes on the rich. This created a unique period where economic growth outpaced capital returns, allowing a middle class to flourish. El capital en el siglo XXI
)—profits, dividends, and interest—tends to grow faster than the overall economy ( , written by Thomas Piketty, is an influential